Advertisers Seek CCPA Enforcement Delay; Consumer Reports Wants Compliance Now
Five advertising associations asked California to delay enforcing its privacy law that took effect Jan. 1. State attorney general enforcement of California Consumer Privacy Act starts July 1, but that office hasn’t finalized implementing rules. The American Association of Advertising…
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Agencies, American Advertising Federation, Association of National Advertisers, Interactive Advertising Bureau and Network Advertising Initiative urged AG Xavier Becerra (D) Wednesday to delay enforcement until at least six months from the date rules are finalized. “Given the extraordinary complexity of the law and the wide range of open issues to be clarified from the draft guidance, there will not be sufficient time for many businesses to effectively implement the final regulations prior to the anticipated enforcement date of July 1, 2020.” The AG didn't comment. Don’t delay, countered Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney in a Wednesday interview: “The problem isn’t that there’s a threat of too much enforcement. The problem is that enforcement just isn’t strong enough and that companies aren’t incentivized enough to comply." Consumers must take affirmative action to exercise privacy rights under CCPA, “so any company that’s acting in good faith to respect consumers’ wishes doesn’t have anything to worry about with respect to enforcement,” Mahoney said. “These companies should be more focused on how to respond to consumer requests rather than trying to avoid compliance.” Companies are finding loopholes to CCPA, including by making it harder for consumers to exercise rights by burying or not clearly labeling “do not sell” links on their websites, or by forcing consumers to navigate multiple webpages to fully opt out, she said. While enforcement hasn’t started, companies should be complying now because the AG said he will look back to the law’s Jan. 1 effective date, she said. The AG or state legislature should clarify that transferring data for ad purposes falls under the definition of sale, so when consumers opt out of selling data, that also stops targeted advertising, Mahoney said. Legislators should give the AG more resources to enforce CCPA, and remove the “right to cure” that lets companies address violations within 30 days to avoid penalty, she said.