CalChamber to Participate in California Consumer Privacy Act Rulemaking Workshop Today

California Chamber of Commerce policy advocate Sarah Boot will be participating in a California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) rulemaking workshop that is being hosted by the state Attorney General’s Office today in Sacramento.

California Consumer Privacy Act

At the end of the 2017–18 legislative session, California passed the CCPA, which is a sweeping privacy law that applies to businesses of all sizes across almost every industry. It was rushed through the legislative process in the summer of 2018 without the benefit of input from numerous crucial stakeholders. As a result, the law is deeply flawed. Many of the CCPA’s provisions are unworkable in practice or will result in numerous unintended consequences. At the end of the 2018 session, the Governor signed SB 1121, a bill fixing a handful of the CCPA’s problems. However, many more fixes are needed before this law goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

California has the opportunity to lead the country on this issue and produce model legislation on consumer privacy that works for both consumers and businesses.

Boot will be representing a CalChamber-led coalition consisting of hundreds of stakeholders, including businesses, companies, local chambers, and trade associations that appreciate and understand the need and desire for consumer privacy. The CCPA unfortunately has multiple flaws that undermine consumer privacy as well as employee protections.

This is the fifth of seven statewide forums in advance of the formal rulemaking process for stakeholders to provide feedback early in the process.

CalChamber Position

CalChamber will continue to push for crucial legislative changes to fix the CCPA in 2019, and also will be involved in the Attorney General’s rulemaking process to ensure that business efforts to implement and comply with the CCPA can be as efficient and safe as possible.

Next Steps

CalChamber will submit written comments before the end of the informal period, which is early March.  CalChamber will submit more written comments during the formal period as well.

The Attorney General’s Office has indicated the formal rulemaking period will likely take place in the fall.

CalChamber Coalition

Businesses interested in joining the CalChamber-led coalition should contact Sarah Boot: sarah.boot@calchamber.com

Staff Contact: Sarah Boot

Sarah R. Boot served as a CalChamber policy advocate from March 2018 to December 2019. She specialized in privacy/technology, telecommunications, economic development, and taxation issues. Before joining CalChamber, Boot was a top adviser to now-Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins, serving as the senator’s legislative director and as lead staffer on legal, privacy, telecommunications, business, and technology issues, among many others. Boot also was principal consultant to Atkins during her time as Assembly Speaker and Speaker Emeritus. For three years, Boot was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California. She prosecuted a broad array of federal crimes, including bank robbery, sex trafficking of minors, and narcotics trafficking. In private practice, Boot spent three years litigating complex civil and intellectual property litigation, primarily representing Internet and technology companies. Boot earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She graduated from the University of Michigan with an honors degree in political science and a minor in Spanish.