If you live in the Golden State, you’re going to like this.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law new legislation that will give Californians the ability to easily opt out of digital data collection with a simple portal that should apply to all websites in their browser. The move promises to make the state’s digital privacy protections that much easier to take advantage of, and could set a new precedent for future privacy regulations.
In a press release shared this week, Newsom’s office announced the passage of two new laws, SB 361 and AB 566, that will strengthen the state’s landmark California Consumer Privacy Act. The CCPA, created in 2018, notably gave state residents the ability to request that companies share with them—but also delete—information that had been collected about them as part of their business practices.
The passage of the CCPA was a big deal, but, as is often the case with landmark legislation, its execution has left something to be desired. While the CCPA did, indeed, force companies—for the first time—to give web users a certain amount of control over their data, the mechanisms by which that control can be exerted have always been quite imperfect.
