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How to Avoid Running Afoul of Privacy Laws

By Dan Panitz and Jerry McIver
June 01, 2023

Privacy laws and enforcement are causing big changes to global commerce and have now arrived at our doorstep. The million dollar questions are how this will affect our businesses and what, if anything, do we need to do about it? While the first answer may vary by vertical and use case, the second answer most definitely involves reducing our risk in multiple areas inclusive of how we collect, store and use data.

When Enforcement Comes Knocking

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) led the way as the nation's first comprehensive consumer privacy law. Although the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2020, we saw the first public CCPA enforcement action in August 2022 with a $1.2 million fine against Sephora. While Forbes called this the "Sephora shot" heard around the world, we can be certain it won't be the last and is likely the beginning of a pronounced era of privacy regulation as evidenced by President Biden's October 7, 2022 Executive Order to Implement the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

Extending variations of the CCPA elsewhere in the U.S., Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have all enacted new consumer privacy laws becoming or having become effective throughout 2023 with many more being tracked through respective legislative processes. (Our colleagues at Legaltech News have put together an interactive map of the evolving patchwork of privacy laws in the U.S.) Saying these new laws and the current tip-of-the-iceberg enforcement actions will wax and wane like some laws have been enforced is a mistake we cannot afford to make, given both regulatory and civil litigation trending now.

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