Tech giants gear up for California fight over privacy rules that curtail data use in 2020

California sent shockwaves through corporate America with a sweeping data privacy law earlier in 2018, but the business community is preparing to push back as CA’s expanded Democratic majority descends on Sacramento. Consumer advocates welcomed a new class of California legislators recently with a warning: The landmark privacy law is already in peril. "Instead of recognizing the need to further protect Americans and their data, some in industry seem intent on pushing California backward. They are asking you to take away rights and protections for Californians that are already enshrined in law," warned a letter privacy and consumer groups sent to every incoming legislator. As Big Tech continues to face pressure over how companies safeguard privacy, Sacramento is set to host the second round of an unfinished fight over which rights customers have to their data — and what compliance looks like for companies that rely on reams of such information. Efforts to alter the data privacy law will be a central focus for both the tech industry and big business writ large. A follow-up bill has already been filed, and lobbyists expect as many as a dozen more to emerge.