Antitrust and Consumer Protection
Competition: 2016, Vol 25, No. 2
Content
- Biometric Privacy Litigation: Is Unique Personally Identifying Information Obtained From a Photograph Biometric Information?
- Chair's Column
- "Clear and Conspicuous" Disclosures Between Celebrity Endorsers and Advertisers On Social Media Websites
- Comments On Proposed Update On Intellectual Property Licensing Guidelines
- Dispatches From the West Coast: Federalism, Competition, and Comments On the United States' Proposed Update To the Antitrust Guidelines For Licensing Intellectual Property
- Editor's Column
- Exceptions To the Rule: Considering the Impact of Non-practicing Entities and Cooperative Regulatory Processes In the Update To the Antitrust Guidelines For the Licensing of Intellectual Property
- Ftc Privacy and Data Security Enforcement and Guidance Under Section 5
- Home Run or Strikeout? the Unsettled Relationship Between the Sports Broadcasting Act and Cable Programming
- Masthead
- Never Say Never: the Ninth Circuit's Misguided Categorical Approach To Individual Damages Questions When Assessing Rule 23(B)(3) Predominance
- The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Private Global Antitrust Litigation: Increasingly Serious Implications For U.S. Practitioners
- California Online Privacy Laws: the Battle For Personal Data
CALIFORNIA ONLINE PRIVACY LAWS: THE BATTLE FOR PERSONAL DATA
By Jonathan Levine and Heather Haggarty1
I. INTRODUCTION
In 2011, the World Economic Forum published a report describing personal data as the new asset class—the "new oil of the Internet and the new currency of the digital world."2 This is truer now than ever. With technology eliminating barriers to privacy and the demand for data creating both opportunities for economic growth and exploitation, legislatures and courts are scrambling to address privacy concerns in this ever-shifting technological landscape. While most online privacy laws and protections have only been enacted in the last decade, California is leading the way with key statutes to safeguard the privacy rights of individuals and businesses. This article focuses on a handful of these laws. Part II provides an overview of the Comprehensive Computer Data Access & Fraud Act (CDAFA),which prohibits unauthorized access to computer data and systems. Part III focuses on the Customer Records Act (CRA), also referred to as the Database Breach Act or the Breach Act, which protects personal information. Part IV discusses the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, which prohibits unauthorized installation of spyware on an individual’s computer. Last, the article concludes with a discussion of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (OPPA), which addresses the collection of personal information by operators of commercial websites.