California allows residents to opt out of the collection of a lot of data on the web

California Governor Gavin Newsom this week signed new legislation giving Californians the ability to easily opt out of digital data collection through a simple portal that should apply to all websites in their browser. The move promises to make the state’s digital privacy protections much easier to take advantage of, and could set a new precedent for future privacy regulations.

in press release This week, Newsom’s office announced the passage of two new laws, SB 361 and AB 566, that would strengthen California’s landmark consumer privacy law. the California Consumer Privacy Actcreated in 2018, specifically gave state residents the ability to require companies to share — but also delete — information collected about them as part of their business practices.

Passage of the CCPA was a big deal, but as is often the case with landmark legislation, its implementation left something to be desired. While the CCPA has forced companies – for the first time – to give web users a certain amount of control over their data, the mechanisms through which this control can be exercised have always been quite imperfect.

In other words, loopholes in the law have created a situation where every time a web user visits a website, they are forced to go through the annoying process of setting their privacy preferences. In some cases, companies have taken advantage of this process by making it confusing or difficult to navigate, thus tipping the scales in their favor.

However, now, due to the passage of AB 566, California residents should – in theory – be able to opt out of all data collection via a simple portal available through their web browser. The legislation “helps consumers exercise their opt-out rights” under the CCPA by “requiring browsers to include a setting to send websites an opt-out preference signal to enable California residents to opt out of third-party sales of their data at one time rather than one website at a time,” Newsom’s press release said.

This is a great step toward giving web users more control over their data, although given the bill has just been passed into law, it’s not yet clear what the regulation will look like for consumers. We hope it’s as easy as checking a box in your browser.

This legislation puts California ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to digital privacy enforcement. In recent years, the state has also taken steps toward improving its ability to monitor and punish companies for violating this law. Currently, the law is implemented through the state Attorney General’s Office. This year, a number of companies – including A Jarrar company and Health information publisher-They were fined over $1 million for alleged CCPA violations. However, in 2020, the state also approved the creation of a new agency, California Privacy Agency (or CPPA – which has been dubbed The first “private police” in the country), charged with administering and implementing the CCPA.

Also signed into law this week is SB 361, which is designed to strengthen the data broker registry that already exists in California. Newsom’s office said the law would give consumers “more information about the personal information collected by data brokers who may have access to consumers’ data.”