Spurring international attention, California has recently enacted legislation targeted at bolstering regulations imposed on data brokers. Known as the ‘Delete Act’, the new law brings a stride in regulatory requirements, aligning California evermore with Oregon and Vermont, the other two states that mandate registration requirements for data brokers. For clarity, data brokers are essentially firms that collect and sell personal information from consumers, quite often those with whom they have no direct working relation.
The key note to take from this act is this – it importantly expands on existing statutes – and if you, or your firm, operates as a data broker in the state of California, then you need to take heed.
Data brokers are now undeniably operating in an environment of increasingly strict regulation in California. As law experts from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP have noted, California’s existing laws already demand certain registrations from data brokers. But the Delete Act steers the conversation in a direction that’s even more intricate.
While the exact details of the newly imposed regulations are still under interpretation by legal minds across the country, one thing seems apparent. The Delete Act establishes more stringent demands, putting pressure on data brokers to further protect the privacy of consumers — expanding the definition and thereby the responsibility of maintaining consumer privacy in a digital world.
As legal professionals working for significant corporations and large law firms, one cannot underestimate the implications of this act. In particular, those firms dealing in data brokerage within the aforementioned states will need to pay close attention to any developments surrounding the Delete Act.
For those of you in the field, as we gather more information and dissect its implications, continue to engage with informed and critical readings such as those provided by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
As always, it is incumbent upon us to stay on top of these changes, understand their impacts on our practice and adapt quickly and competently.