California names appointees to new privacy enforcement agency

California government officials announced late Wednesday its appointments to the newly established California Privacy Protection Agency. Last November, state residents

"Californians deserve to have their data protected and the individuals appointed today will bring their expertise in technology, privacy and consumer rights to advance that goal. These appointees represent a new day in online consumer protection and business accountability," Newsom said. 

University of California, Berkeley Clinical Professor of Law Jennifer Urban was appointed chair of the CPPA by Newsom. She will be joined by John Thompson, who has served as senior vice president of government relations for LA 2028; Angela Sierra, who recently served as chief assistant attorney general of the Public Rights Division; Lydia de la Torre, who is currently an IAPP member and served as of-counsel at Squire Patton Boggs; and Vinhcent Le, an attorney at The Greenlining Institute. 

De la Torre, along with Squire Patton Boggs' Glenn Brown, wrote about the CPPA in a recent article for The Privacy Advisor, "

In the article, they also note "it is expected the new agency will undertake not only the update of the existing CCPA rules, but also the issues of new ones addressing" several areas involving cross-context behavioral advertising, specifics around consumer rights, standards for audits and risk assessments, among others. 

In a

Among its many duties, the CPPA will also appoint the agency's executive director, officers, counsel and employees. It will also name a chief privacy auditor "to conduct audits of businesses to ensure compliance with the CPRA," de la Torre and Brown wrote, adding, "because the CPPA will have the power to cooperate with other privacy enforcement agencies in the state, as well as in 'other states, territories, and countries,' it is expected that it will coordinate its investigatory actions with regulators in other jurisdictions, including European data protection authorities."