California Voters Decisively Approve Prop 24, The California Privacy Rights Act

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the YES on Prop 24 campaign announced the passage of the California Privacy Rights Act, with a decisive majority of Californians (56% according to the Secretary of State's web site) supporting the measure to strengthen consumer privacy rights. The new law will give Californians the strongest online privacy rights in the world, including protecting sensitive personal information, tripling fines against companies that violate kids' data, establishing an enforcement arm for consumers, and making it harder to weaken privacy laws in the future.

Experts believe that this sweeping privacy law will set the bar for privacy rights for the rest of the nation and that federal laws will follow suit. 

"With tonight's historic passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act, we are at the beginning of a journey that will profoundly shape the fabric of our society by redefining who is in control of our most personal information and putting consumers back in charge of their own data," said Alastair Mactaggart, Chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy and Prop 24 sponsor. "I'm looking forward to the work ahead and the next steps in implementing this law, including setting up a commission that is dedicated to protecting consumers online." 

"I look forward to ushering in a new era of consumer privacy rights with passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act," said Andrew Yang, Chair of the Board of Advisors for Californians for Consumer Privacy. "It will sweep the country and I'm grateful to Californians for setting a new higher standard for how our data is treated."

"This is a profound and historic night for consumer privacy rights. California voters have sent a message loud and clear that consumers own their own data – and this will define our laws moving forward," said California Senate Majority Leader Robert M Hertzberg, joint co-author of the California Consumer Privacy Act.

Internationally renowned privacy advocates who advocated for Prop 24 are celebrating the passage of the historic privacy rights measure:

"Californians have sent a message to Washington and beyond that Americans expect our democracy to finally hold the tech sector to account," said Shoshana Zuboff, award-winning author of "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" and featured privacy expert in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. "The illegitimate extraction of our personal information and it's anti-democratic consequences will not be tolerated. We need new law for a new century. Prop24 is now the foundation upon which we will continue to advance this frontier for the sake of a democratic digital future." 

"Common Sense is a proud champion of privacy rights for kids and families wherever they learn, work, grow, and play," said Jim Steyer, President of Common Sense Media. "We look forward to building on the strong foundations established by Proposition 24 alongside the landmark California Consumer Privacy Act and continuing to fight for a future of expanded privacy rights for kids and families everywhere."

"Prop 24, is the most impactful data protection legislation ever passed in this country, and thanks to the voters of California we are now well on our way to truly owning our most valuable asset: our personal data," said Brittany Kaiser, Co-Founder of Own Your Data Foundation, data privacy advocate and Cambridge Analytica whistleblower.

"The passage of Prop 24 is an historic win for privacy at the ballot that will be a bellwether for the country," said Carmen Balber, Executive Director of Consumer Watchdog. Prop 24 enshrines Californians' privacy rights and safeguards them from legislative assault, adds groundbreaking new protections for sensitive information like our race, sexual orientation and location, and creates a European-style privacy agency to protect our rights."

Proposition 24 will:

1. Protect your most personal information, by allowing you to prevent businesses from using or sharing sensitive information about your health, finances, race, ethnicity, and precise location;
2. Safeguard young people, TRIPLING FINES for violations involving children's information;
3. Put new limits on companies' collection and use of our personal information;
4. Establish an enforcement arm—the California Privacy Protection Agency—to defend these rights and hold companies accountable, and extend enforcement including IMPOSING PENALTIES FOR NEGLIGENCE resulting in theft of consumers' emails and passwords;
5. MAKE IT MUCH HARDER TO WEAKEN PRIVACY in California in the future, by preventing special interests and politicians from undermining Californians' privacy rights, while allowing the Legislature to amend the law to further the primary goal of strengthening consumer privacy to better protect you and your children, such as opt-in for use of data, further protections for uniquely vulnerable minors, and greater power for individuals to hold violators accountable.

www.caprivacy.org 
@caprivacyorg

About Californians for Consumer Privacy
Californians for Consumer Privacy is the same group that authored the first-in-the-nation California Consumer Privacy Act, which was passed unanimously by the California State Legislature and signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown. Now the group is backing Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act on the 2020 ballot, to expand and enshrine privacy rights for all Californians.

SOURCE Californians for Consumer Privacy