Greetings from Brussels!
This week is decidedly one when all our attention is squarely focused on the United States of America. To say that the presidential race is one of the most hotly contested in the history of the country would be an understatement; we are talking fever pitch proportions here. Historically, and arguably still the case, U.S. presidential outcomes continue to have a profound influence on international relations, and in Europe, this probably rings truer than elsewhere. Regardless of the outcome — whether Trump prevails or Biden emerges victorious — the world has already changed during the last four years as the U.S. has increasingly detached itself from Europe through the existential questioning of the NATO pact and numerous trade standoffs, as well as pulling out of international agreements from climate to non-nuclear proliferation. Privacy pros will be watching closely to see this election come to its conclusion and what it might hold in store for the work of privacy thereafter.
With all the presidential media noise, it may have passed you by, but this week, California voted for big changes in its privacy law with the passing of Proposition 24. As reported in The Privacy Advisor, the approval of Prop. 24, a California ballot initiative voted on by state residents, means the California Consumer Privacy Act will be substantially amended to become California Privacy Rights Act. The CPRA expands the state’s existing privacy law and scales back the amount of personal data that companies can collect and share on California residents and, perhaps most importantly, establishes the first dedicated data protection authority in the U.S. This is a fundamental shift in U.S. privacy law — granted it concerns California residents — taken that many of the tech industry's biggest companies largely operate within California's jurisdiction. The cultural and organizational changes that accompany it will likely have ramifications across the U.S. and beyond.
Moreover, I recommend listening to the latest Privacy Advisor