In the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of privacy and cybersecurity law, gathering the biggest news from 2019 was no small feat – from new laws and landmark cases, to major technological developments and international guidelines, it was a busy year for anyone trying to stay up to date. But Beckage has narrowed down the top privacy and cybersecurity stories that shaped last year:
Hearings on two federal privacy law bills from opposite sides of the aisle were held late last week before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The bills stand as indications of differences in between Democrat and Republican views on a comprehensive privacy law. The first – Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act (COPRA) – was proposed by Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, D. Wash, and has the backing of several other Democrat Senators. The second – the United States Consumer Data Privacy Act (CDPA) – was proposed by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is likely to have other Republican support.
With only a few months left before the landmark California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) takes effect, yesterday the California Attorney General announced Proposed Regulations implementing the CCPA. By way of background, the CCPA comes into effect January 1, 2020 and will put some of the strictest guidelines the US has seen regarding the collection and processing of personal information of California residents. While the law addresses the processing of personal information of California residents, the CCPA is likely to have far reaching impacts on businesses across the nation, including New York-based businesses. The text of the CCPA can be found here.
On June 27, 2019 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted its fourth annual privacy conference PrivacyCon. Tasked with protecting consumers against privacy and security violations, at PrivacyCon the FTC brings together privacy stakeholders to discuss privacy issues that businesses encounter when providing innovative technologies to customers.
