California Legislative Update

Just a quick legislative update from everyone’s favorite US privacy jurisdiction, California. Governor Newsom:

Signed AB 1281 – That Act extends the B2B and HR data exemptions under CCPA for another year. This is very good news.

Vetoed AB 1138 – That Act would have given CA a state analog to COPPA and required, among other things, parental consent prior to kids under 13 using social media. In his veto message found here, Newsom said he based his decision on the same reasons many of us lawyers and privacy professionals had been criticizing AB 1138, which is that COPPA already robustly occupies the field and the FTC has an excellent track record of enforcement. A state law analog would have added nothing more than regulatory burden and cost amidst the already challenging pandemic economy.