The five members of the inaugural board for the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) have been named.
The announcement follows voters passing the California Privacy Rights Act, known as Proposition 24, in a referendum in November. The new Act establishes the CPPA- an independent agency to handle regulation and enforcement. The act, which quickly followed the California Consumer Protection Act, (CCPA) also allows consumers to prevent businesses from sharing personal data, amend their personal data, and limit the use of “sensitive personal information” such as precise geolocation, race, ethnicity and health information.
“In an era of massive data mining, the establishment of this body moves us in the direction of protecting people’s digital identities and consumer rights regarding their personal information,” said state assembly speaker Anthony Rendon.
“Special attention needs to be paid to assisting immigrants and non-English proficient Californians to have the same rights as everyone.”
Governor Gavin Newsom commented: “Californians deserve to have their data protected and the individuals appointed … will bring their expertise in technology, privacy and consumer rights to advance that goal. These appointees represent a new day in online consumer protection and business accountability.”
The members are:
Chairwoman Jennifer Urban, clinical professor of law and director of policy initiatives for the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California’s Berkeley School of Law.
John Christopher Thompson, senior vice-president of government relations at LA 2028. He has been chief of staff, legislative director and legislative assistant at the US Senate.
Angela Sierra has recently served as chief assistant attorney general of the public rights division, overseeing work related to safeguarding civil rights, protecting consumers against misleading advertising, fraudulent business practices, privacy violations and protecting consumers’ health care rights, among other areas.
Lydia de la Torre, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School where she has taught privacy law and co-directed the university’s privacy certificate programme which enables students to graduate ready to practice privacy law. She is also an international expert in data protection issues generally and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in particular.
Vinhcent Le, technology equity attorney at the Greenlining Institute, focusing on consumer privacy, closing the digital divide and preventing algorithmic bias.
PrivSec Global, a live streaming event, takes place on 23-25 March featuring more than 200 speakers and 64 sessions on privacy, data protection and cyber-security.
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