New CCPA Addresses Dark Patterns

First I had heard of this, the definition of  'dark patterns' seems quite loose. 

California Passes Regulation Banning 'Dark Patterns' Under Landmark Privacy Law

in Gizmodo, Brianna Provenzano, March 15, 2021

New rules enacted under California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will bar so-called dark patterns, or underhanded practices used by websites or applications to get users to behave atypically. Examples include website visitors suddenly being redirected to a subscription page, even when they have no interest in the product being marketed. According to an infographic from the California Attorney General's office, dark-pattern strategies rely on "confusing language or unnecessary steps such as forced clicking or scrolling through multiple screens or listening to why you shouldn't opt out of their data sale." The new CCPA regulations will further add a Privacy Options icon, which Internet users can use as a visual cue to opt out of the sale of their personal data.  ... '

Getting Pay for Data

Another project with aim at paying users for their data.  Links to our long term data as an asset view.

Andrew Yang Is Pushing Big Tech to Pay Users for Data
By The Verge
June 22, 2020

Andrew Yang wants people to get paid for the data they create on big tech platforms like Facebook and Google, and with a new project launching on Monday, he believes he can make it happen. ...

Yang's Data Dividend Project is a new program tasked with establishing data-as-property rights under privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) all across the country. The program hopes to mobilize over 1 million people by the end of the year, focusing primarily on Californians, and "pave the way for a future in which all Americans can claim their data as a property right and receive payment" if they choose to share their data with platforms.

At the beginning of the year, the CCPA went into effect, granting consumers new control over their data online like the right to delete and opt out of the sale of their personal information. There's nothing in the law about tech companies paying for data (or, more specifically, paying them not to opt out), but Yang's new project is looking to show that the idea is popular with voters. The Data Dividend Project is betting on collective action as a means of changing the law and extending data property rights to users across the country. If this idea becomes law, Yang's team says it will work on behalf of users to help them get paid.

"We are completely outgunned by tech companies," Yang told The Verge. "We're just presented with these terms and conditions. No one ever reads them. You just click on them and hope for the best. And unfortunately, the best has not happened."  ... ' 

Notices that you are Being Tracked Offline

A space we spend much time exploring.    But as in all related spaces, how much attention will people play to this new fine print?

Now Stores Must Tell You How They're Tracking Your Every Move   in Wired

California's new privacy law has spurred a torrent of online notices. But the law is also forcing changes offline, in traditional stores.

To anyone with eyes in their kneecaps, the notice outside gadget retailer B8ta’s glossy store next to San Francisco’s new NBA arena is obvious. “We care about your privacy,” the small plaque proclaims, offering a web address and QR code.

Anyone curious and limber enough to bend down and follow these pointers is taken to the retailer’s online privacy policy, which discloses that stepping inside the store puts you in range of technology that automatically collects personal information. That includes “smartphone detectors” and Wi-Fi routers that note the location and unique identifiers of your phone, and cameras equipped with software that estimates your age and gender.  ... "

Overview of the CCPA Act.

Your Data is Shared and Sold

Further look at personal data and its use and regulations.

Your Data Is Shared and Sold…What’s Being Done About It?
Oct 28, 2019 Europe, North America

Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the most sweeping state data privacy regulations in the country. The law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, regulates how data is collected, managed, shared and sold by companies and entities doing business with or compiling information about California residents. Some observers contend that because no business would want to exclude selling to Californians, the CCPA is de facto a national law on data privacy, absent an overarching federal regulation protecting consumer information.

“The new privacy law is a big win for data privacy,” says Joseph Turow, a privacy scholar and professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. “Though it could be even stronger, the California law is stronger than anything that exists at the federal level.” Among other stipulations, the CCPA requires businesses to inform consumers regarding the types of personal data they’ll collect at the time they collect it and also how the information will be used. Consumers have the right to ask firms to disclose with whom they share the data and also opt out of their data being sold.

The CCPA comes on the heels of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect in May 2018. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 107 countries have data privacy rules in place including 66 developing nations. In the U.S., there was a “significant” increase in data privacy bills being introduced this year, with at least 25 states and Puerto Rico starting such legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Notably, this bill count doesn’t include related legislation on topics such as cybersecurity.  .... "

A Look at CCPA

Concise look at the California Consumer Privacy Act.

CCPA: Do the Penalties Fit the Crime?
By David Harding  / in ReadWrite

CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020 and aims to protect California’s 39 million inhabitants against the ever-growing threat to privacy. The law will grant unprecedented power to individuals by giving them choice in regards to the collection, sale, and deletion of their private data. Despite being a state law, large, medium, and even small companies throughout the country will be affected by it.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is viewed as a savior for privacy, arriving to protect consumers’ data. Unfortunately, it may fall short of reaching hero status.

There are few requirements to be subjected to CCPA rules: for-profit companies must either gross over $25 million, manage data of 50,000 or more California residents, or derive more than 50% of their revenue from the sale of data.  .... "