Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law (techcrunch.com)

Article summary

California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is set to take effect on January 1, granting state consumers the right to know what information companies have on them, the right to have that information deleted, and the right to opt-out of the sale of that information. The law has sparked concern among tech companies in Silicon Valley, who have lobbied to weaken its provisions. Some companies are now pushing for a federal privacy bill that would override the CCPA. The law is similar to Europe's GDPR, which has already led to significant fines for non-compliant companies.

Main themes

• Data Privacy
• Regulatory Compliance
• Tech Industry
• Consumer Rights
• Federal vs State Law

What commenters say

• Complying with multiple privacy laws can be burdensome for small startups, potentially forcing them to radically change their architectures at enormous costs. Some argue that companies should not collect any information that is not essential to delivering content and services. Others believe that respecting users' data does not necessarily mean not collecting any data at all, but rather being transparent about how it is used. A few commenters think that the costs of compliance are a necessary consequence of years of misbehavior by tech companies. Some companies may try to fly under the radar or use SAAS solutions to comply with the patchwork of regulations. The definition of 'respecting users' data' is not clear-cut and can be subjective. Smaller businesses may struggle to comply with regulations like GDPR due to limited resources and engineering capabilities.