On June 3, 2025, the California Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 690 (SB 690), a bill that seeks to add a “commercial business purposes” exception to the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).
After multiple readings on the Senate floor, SB 690 passed as amended, and will now proceed to the California State Assembly. SB
California Senate Bill 690 (SB 690), introduced by Senator Anna Caballero, is continuing to proceed through the California state legislative process. The proposed bill would amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) by adding an exception to the statute which has the effect of permitting use of tracking technologies for “commercial business purposes.” CIPA
The California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) has made it abundantly clear: privacy compliance isn’t just about publishing the right disclosures – it’s about whether your systems actually work. On May 6, the agency fined Todd Snyder, Inc. $345,178 for failures that highlight a growing regulatory focus on execution of California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) compliance. The action sends a powerful message: even well-resourced companies are not insulated from enforcement if they don’t actively test and manage how privacy rights are honored in practice.
The action against Todd Snyder was rooted in executional failure. The company had a portal in place for consumer rights requests, but it wasn’t processing opt-out submissions – a failure that lasted for roughly 40 days, according to the CPPA. The cookie banner that should have enabled consumers to opt out of cookie tracking would disappear prematurely, preventing users from completing their requests.
The company further required users to verify their identity before opting out and requested sensitive personal information, such as a photograph of their driver’s license. The CPPA determined this was not only unnecessary, but a violation in itself. The allegations around improper verification reflect concerns raised in a CPPA Enforcement Advisory issued last year, which cautioned businesses against collecting excessive information from consumers asserting their privacy rights.Continue Reading CPPA Underscores That Businesses Own CCPA Compliance – Even When Privacy Management Tools Fail
As 2025 begins, businesses across the U.S. will be required to navigate an even more expanded landscape of state-level privacy regulations. In all, eight states are introducing comprehensive privacy laws, further adding to the growing patchwork of privacy requirements in the U.S.
January is kicking off with a flurry as five states (Iowa, Delaware, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) implement their laws in the first two weeks. Later this year, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Maryland will join the mix. For companies operating in the U.S., staying ahead in this shifting regulatory environment is essential. Failure to comply could result in hefty penalties, legal exposure, and a loss of consumer trust.
The good news? Businesses already aligned with current privacy laws may only need minor updates to meet the new requirements. However, it is important to be aware of all consumer-facing interactions, data collections, and sharing of personal information in each state to keep a firm handle on your compliance obligations.Continue Reading A New Year and New Compliance Requirements: Additional State Privacy Laws Take Effect in 2025
This blog has been cross-posted on the Consumer Class Defense site.
Anyone following trends in consumer class action litigation will know that consumer privacy was a primary focus of the plaintiff’s bar in 2023. And there are no signs this uptick in consumer privacy claims is slowing any time soon. Although the claims center around use of tracking technology or analytics functions on consumer facing websites, several different statutes and claims have been asserted, including violations of state wiretap statutes and the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”).
Although these cases are largely at the motion to dismiss stage, and therefore there is little insight into how certain key defenses will play out, some recent decisions surrounding VPPA claims have shifted the landscape in certain defendant’s favor.Continue Reading Is the Video Privacy Protection Act Losing its Allure?
With so many companies being hauled into court in California based on claims that the functionalities on their website and use of service providers for marketing or analytics purposes violate consumer privacy rights, it is important to exhaust all possible defenses available to defendants. Late last year, the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling upholding a dismissal based on a lack of personal jurisdiction over a web-based payment company. Companies operating interactive websites may be able to take advantage of this ruling as part of their defense strategy in 2024.Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Opinion Supports Personal Jurisdiction Defense for Interactive Websites
On July 18, 2023, Oregon’s Governor Tina Kotek signed SB 619, which created the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (“OCPA”). Oregon joins California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Florida, and Texas, as the 12th state to enact a comprehensive consumer data privacy law.
Most provisions of the OCPA will take effect on July 1, 2024, with delayed compliance deadlines for honoring universal mechanisms consumers will use to exercise their right to “opt out” of a platform processing their personal information for certain purposes and for activities of tax-exempt organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Notably, unlike most other state privacy laws, the OCPA exempts only certain nonprofit organizations. For activities of tax-exempt organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the OCPA has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025.Continue Reading Oregon Enacts Consumer Privacy Act
The California Superior Court in Sacramento decided to give businesses in California an early present for the 4th of July. The regulations promulgated by the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) back in March will not be enforceable on July 1, 2023. The new enforcement date will be March 29, 2024.
This is a result of the Court finding (account to access required) that it was the intent of the voters to require a 12-month “grace period” for businesses to build out their CCPA compliance programs. As a bit of background, and as we mentioned in our article back in April that you can find here, the California Chamber of Commerce (“the Chamber”) filed suit against the CPPA in March of this year seeking a delay in enforcement. The suit argued that the CCPA regulations passed by the CPPA should only be enforceable only after 12 months from the final promulgation of all the required regulations set out in Proposition 24 and sought injunctive relief to delay CPPA’s enforcement. The Chamber lawsuit was filed the day after the CPPA finalized their regulations across 12 of the 15 areas of the CCPA which rulemaking is required under Proposition 24.Continue Reading California Courts Give an Independence Day Present – CCPA Regulation Enforcement Delayed
2023 has brought several states into the privacy limelight. On June 18, Governor Abbott signed the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (“TDPSA”) into law, making the Lone Star state the eleventh in the U.S. to pass a comprehensive data privacy and security law. The Act provides Texas consumers the ability to submit requests to exercise privacy rights, and extends to parents the ability exercise rights on behalf of their minor children.
The Texas Act provides the usual compliment of data subject rights relating to access, corrections, data portability, and to opt out of data being processed for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, and profiling where a consumer may be significantly or legally effected. It also requires that covered businesses provide a privacy notice and other disclosures relevant to how they use consumer data.Continue Reading Texas Joins the Privacy Party
With the passage of Senate Bill 262, Florida has become the latest state who has woken up to the political capital that a state privacy law can provide. And while we see a lot of the “usual suspects” which populate other state privacy laws (e.g. notice, consumer rights, collection and use restrictions, etc.) – which we have posted on frequently – Florida didn’t just look to privacy with SB 262. It also addressed two other issues which seem to be on the mind of Governor DeSantis – government censorship of online social media platforms, and protection of a minor’s personal information.Continue Reading Florida’s SB 262 – What Florida Thinks of Privacy (and more)