California officials now face a new challenge in their effort to tell people what information Internet companies share about them, as advertising groups try to delay enforcement of the state's new digital privacy law.
California's sweeping Consumer Privacy Act requires Internet companies give consumers all the personal information they've collected about them, and delete it upon request. But now five advertising industry trade groups have asked State Attorney General Xavier Becerra to delay enforcement of the landmark law.
“The law’s effective, but the law hasn’t actually been settled yet,” said Eric Goldman, professor at the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. “And that’s why I think many ad groups are confused about what they’re supposed to do.”
Goldman said, even though the law went into effect January 1, some details about enforcement still have yet to be worked out.
“The reality is nobody wants to go to court to challenge this law because of the fact it’ll be a way of telling consumers ‘we don’t care about your rights; we’re going to try and undermine them,’” Goldman said. “That’s how the message would be spun and nobody wants to do it.”
The ad groups asked for an additional six months to come into compliance. But Goldman said Becerra is not likely to grant the request since the privacy law has already faced delays.