May 26th CPPA Board Meeting Takeaways – By Natalie Marcell

On May 26, 2022, the California Privacy Protection Agency’s  Board (CalPPA) met and shared some big news

1. Executive Director Report:   Ashkan Soltani hinted that the Draft Proposed CCPA Regulations (Regulations) would be released soon. Mr. Soltani also announced the hiring of Maureen Mahoney as Deputy Director of Policy and Legislation.  Additional hires include human resources and legal staff.  Mr. Soltani said he is recruiting for other staff members, including legal analysts, law clerks, and administrative staff. Additionally, he said the proposed ‘22-’23 budget requests 34 positions “to satisfy obligations with a focus on rulemaking and public awareness.”

2. Omitted Topics for Upcoming Regulations: The Board indicated it would not include in the upcoming round of regulations the following topics:  

(a) automated decision making;

(b) cybersecurity audits; or

(c) privacy risk assessments

The Board stated that these topics would not be included in the upcoming release of the amended CCPA regulations because these topics presented complex issues that would “require more work” and resources.  Board member Vinhcent Le said these topics could be addressed within a future rulemaking package. 

3. Reorganizing Existing CCPA Rules:  Existing CCPA rules will be fine tuned and reorganized so they are more reader friendly, including potentially changing subsection references.

4. Public Feedback:  Small business chamber groups expressed concern about the law, costs of compliance, and the potential for unintended consequences.  Public comments requested clarity around timing, compliance runway, and the like.