Alastair Mactaggart, a real estate developer from the Bay Area, has become one of Big Tech’s most significant antagonist due to his relentless campaign for consumer privacy rights. Mactaggart has spent a reported $9 million on California ballot initiatives, inevitably leading to the formation of the California Privacy Protection Agency, which is considered to have the most potent privacy law in the nation. Today, Mactaggart serves on the board of the agency, ensuring the enforcement of these laws.
As the California Privacy Protection Agency is the only privacy agency in the United States, it sets the precedence for privacy-related standards that businesses should adopt nationwide. Given California’s size and the presence of Silicon Valley, the agency’s decisions practically set privacy defaults for the entire industry across the country.
The industry is closely observing the budding agency, which has started to enforce regulations and take action. It’s first probe, for instance, was into connected cars, and several more investigations are reportedly underway against undisclosed entities.
Tom Kemp, a Silicon Valley-based angel investor who has assisted Mactaggart on one of his initiatives, credits him for sparking privacy legislation and regulations in the U.S.
However, Mactaggart’s involvement is not without criticism. Tech lobbyists and other business groups are concerned that his position on the board of the agency he contributed to creating could induce a bias against businesses, potentially complicating the compliance process.
Despite such concerns, Mactaggart has rebutted that he is one of five board members and his role simply reflects the will of voters who approved the law. He further explained that his interest is in middle ground – not to stifle technological advancement under the guise of privacy nor to let tech companies have their way without any checks or balances.
Two privacy laws, the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act, saw themselves into existence partially due to Mactaggart’s Californians for Consumer Privacy, which he and his wife, Celine Mactaggart, co-founded. The real estate developer’s career trajectory was side-tracked by a conversation at a dinner party, which aroused his interest in data privacy issues. Buked with the alarming amount of data tech companies were gathering on people, Mactaggart decided to do something.
In the years to come, the California Privacy Protection Agency will increasingly regulate automation, risk assessments, and other significant factors that are not presently outlined in the privacy law. The agency’s decisions on these matters will largely be influenced by internal discretion. Both business and privacy leaders are keeping a close eye on Mactaggart’s role in the process, given his unique history with the CCPA and CPRA.
For further information on the original article, please see Bloomberg Law’s report here.