Greetings from York, Maine!
It is hard to believe that we are midway through summer. The back-to-school commercials have started, and baseball is officially back. It will be interesting to watch baseball games without fans in attendance, but perhaps the teams will pipe in audience sounds like they do for soccer games. For us Red Sox fans, let's hope they stop piping in the traditional 8th inning rendition of "Sweet Caroline" to an empty stadium.
It has been a whirlwind for privacy pros since the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down the “Schrems II” ruling last week. There has, understandably, been a lot of debate and uncertainty on the topic, and we here at the IAPP have been unpacking how that ruling affects organizations. You can read our “Schrems II” coverage below.
And the privacy news doesn't stop. The secretary of state for California just this afternoon released its "Official Voter Information Guide" for the November election. This includes relevant documents related to Proposition 24, aka the California Privacy Rights Act. Related documents include arguments in favor and against the proposition, as well as corresponding rebuttals and the text of the proposed law.
Interestingly, some privacy advocacy groups are coming out against Proposition 24. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, for example, announced its surprising opposition earlier this week. Concerns stem from loopholes and exceptions that may not be beneficial for consumers, according to tweets by American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California Tech and Civil Liberties Attorney Jake Snow.
We also featured a Privacy Perspectives post this week from Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney, who laid out what the consumer advocacy group thinks are the good and bad points of the CPRA. She believes there are some short-term wins for consumers, but, perhaps, some long-term uncertainty.
Contact tracing was front and center at a Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection hearing this week. While the hearing was initially meant to discuss protecting citizens from scam risks, the conversation shifted to concerns about patient privacy and new calls for federal privacy legislation. Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Andrew Smith testified that privacy legislation is “a helpful tool in getting consumers to trust contact tracing efforts.” Barring federal privacy legislation, “contact tracing legislation would be great,” he said.
On a much lighter note, it may not come as a surprise that when we are not disseminating and writing about privacy news, we have healthy debates about how certain terms are worded or even the history behind words like “data.” Despite the debates, we always follow our copy editor’s directives. This week, our very own Joni McNeal shares with us her take on whether “data” should be singular or plural.
Wrapping up, stay safe, and I hope you have the opportunity to catch a baseball game this weekend.