YES: BEEF UP PRIVACY OF CALIFORNIA CONSUMERS

Taking effect on Jan. 1 of this year, the California Computer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a first-in-the-nation law to reduce the harm to consumers from corporate surveillance and predatory data practices. Modeled on Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, CCPA has noble intent but few teeth. The industry leaned on state legislators and neutered the law as it made its way through Sacramento. Proposition 24, the Californians for Consumer Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act (CPREA) of 2020, is designed to restore CCPA to the intent of its framers. Though the proposition does not go as far as I would like, it is a huge step forward. Under it, Californians would have much more control over their online privacy than has ever been available in this country.

The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to privacy, and even California's constitutional right to privacy does not stop corporations claiming ownership of all data they gather. Many have built giant businesses by monetizing data, and the effect is to rob consumers of their right to self-determination without their being aware of it.

It is no exaggeration to say that data has replaced oil as the dominant raw material in our economy. The extraordinary success of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft has attracted imitators in every sector. Without regulatory constraints, the industry has prioritized profits over the public good at every opportunity, with disastrous consequences for democracy, public health, privacy and competition.

Unfortunately, there is no single regulatory solution to restore balance to the data economy. After a very slow start, policy makers in Washington are now engaged in investigations and legislative proposals in three areas — safety of tech products, privacy and antitrust — with a growing awareness that they must act on all three. Unfortunately, the pace of their work is slow, while the pace of industry evolution is fast. Well-orchestrated lobbying efforts by industry, including the co-option of think tanks and academics, add friction to every government effort at reform. Fortunately, the ballot initiative process in California provides voters with an opportunity for direct action.

CCPA is based on a concept known as “opt-out,” where corporations can use personal data unless the consumer tells them not to. Thanks to CCPA, Californians now have an option to tell websites not to sell their data. There are numerous problems with CCPA, but it is much better than no protection at all, it is already the law in California, and it is relatively safe from legal challenge. Unfortunately, industry lobbyists stripped many of the protections from the original draft of CCPA, which is why advocates have put Proposition 24 on the ballot.

Proposition 24 plugs many holes in CCPA. It provides the right to prevent the collection of unnecessary data, restrictions on transfers of personal data, penalties for the loss of email addresses due to negligence, the right to correct your data, an opt-out of the use of precise geolocation and other highly sensitive information like health, race and sexual orientation, new standards for high-risk processors of data and transparency around automated decision-making. Collectively, the many new benefits of Proposition 24 do not go as far as I think society must go in reining in the giant personal data aggregation industry, but that is not a reasonable argument against passage. In a world where microtargeting is being used to undermine the nation's pandemic response, to suppress votes in the presidential election, to lure consumers into online groups promoting conspiracy theories and to spread hate, we should all embrace Proposition 24 for what it is: a timely step forward in consumer protection.

Opponents of Proposition 24 include some of the world's largest data brokers, such as the multibillion-dollar Liveramp Holdings, formerly Acxiom Corp., which profits from the status quo, and freespeech organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, whose objectivity may be impaired by funding from internet platforms. After much study, I now believe that Proposition 24 is the best next step towards comprehensive protections. With that notion in mind, the initiative allows for amendments by a majority of both houses of the state Legislature, so long as those amendments do not undermine consumer privacy.

Privacy regulations alone will not be enough to fix what is wrong with internet platforms — we require safety regulations and antitrust intervention, as well — but they are a necessary part of the solution. Proposition 24 is the essential complement that delivers most of what CCPA originally promised. Please join me in voting yes on Proposition 24 to strengthen consumer privacy laws in California.