California Consumer Privacy Act 2018 – California’s GDPR?

On September 23, California’s governor Jerry Brown approved Senate Bill 1121 (the “Amendment”), which amends the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA” or the “Act”). The CCPA was originally passed in the wakeof the May 25, 2018 effectiveness date of the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (“GDPR”), and with its passage California has become the first state to adopt legislation granting comparable protections and privacy rights with respect to consumers’ personal data. The Act borrows some key concepts from GDPR, including establishing a broad definition of “personal data” and creating a “right to be forgotten.” As such, the CCPA clearly distinguishes itself from existing state and federal privacy statutes, which mainly target specific privacy issues.