On December 10, 2013, the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit of the California Office of the Attorney General (CA AG) held a meeting in San Francisco for interested stakeholders to discuss best practices in light of the Assembly’s enactment of A.B. 370, California’s new do-not-track disclosure law that goes into effect on January 1, 2014. A.B. 370 amended the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) to require operators of websites, online services and mobile applications to amend their privacy policies as of the new year to either (1) disclose how they respond to do-not-track signals from Internet browsers or other consumer choice mechanisms regarding the collection of behavioral tracking data; or (2) link to an online location containing a description of a consumer choice program the operator follows and explain the effects of that program. The new law also requires these operators to disclose the type and nature of any third-party tracking occurring on their sites, services or apps. The CA AG staff focused the discussion with stakeholders on what should constitute “best practices” regarding do-not-track disclosures, rather than on what would be required for businesses to simply comply with the new disclosure requirements created by passage of A.B. 370. To learn more about what CA AG staff and industry stakeholders discussed at the December 10, 2013 meeting, please see Alston & Bird’s client advisory entitled On Eve of New Law Taking Effect, California Attorney General Announces Upcoming Best Practices Guidelines for Do-Not-Track Disclosures.
For further information about the requirements of A.B. 370, please see our previous client advisory entitled California Adopts Do-Not-Track Disclosure Law, Reflecting a Significant New Development in a National Trend to Improve the Transparency of Online and Mobile Privacy Practices, which provides an in-depth analysis of A.B. 370’s CalOPPA amendments and its potential impact on businesses with websites, mobile apps or online services used by California residents.