Daily Journal: Trends in State Privacy Laws: Is it Time for a Federal Law?

In this bylined article, O’Melveny special counsel Scott Pink addresses compliance complications across the states because of the lack of uniform federal legislation for consumer data protection and privacy regulation. Pink believes it is integral that businesses “remain vigilant and monitor legislative and regulatory developments that could impact their data and business practices moving forward.”

The Daily Journal article pinpoints the key similarities and differences between the California Consumer Privacy Act and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the terms each state uses, and the wide variation of specific thresholds involved. Pink predicts that as other states follow California’s lead, increasing differences at the state level will further drive the need for consistency.

Pink states that the federal bill put forward earlier this year, the ITPDCA, “would create a set of opt-out privacy rights for consumers and impose notice and other obligations on companies,” which Pink believes “would preempt state laws and would vest enforcement authority in the Federal Trade Commission, without any private right of action.”  

Daily Journal subscribers can read the full article here.