What I’ll tell Congress about California’s new privacy law

California's new consumer privacy act should be the baseline for any federal law, and that the rights of California consumers are not only protected but expanded to other consumers in our country and around the globe. The California Consumer Privacy Act is an initiative to give Californians the fundamental rights to:

• Know all data a business collects on you, and say no to its sale.
• Be informed what categories of data will be collected about you prior to its collection.
• Delete data you’ve given to a business.
• Have the right to opt-out of the sale of your information to third parties
• Mandate an opt-in before the sale of information of children under age 16.
• Know where and why your information was acquired, and where it’s being shared.
• Sue companies that don’t take reasonable steps to protect your information.

[Alastair Mactaggart was the chief proponent and author of the California Consumer Privacy Act]