In a move that some consumer advocates worry will erode the notoriously stringent requirements of the California Consumer Privacy Act, the California state legislature’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee held a hearing this week where it advanced five different bills that amend and potentially weaken the statute. The bills advanced include the following:

• Assembly Bill 25 that would change the definition of a “consumer” within the CCPA to exclude individuals whose information was collected during the course of applying for a job.
• Assembly Bill 846 that would allow companies to continue offering incentive and loyalty programs to consumers.
• Assembly Bill 873 that would amend the definitions of “personal information” and “deidentified” information. Under this bill, the definition of “deidentified” would be consistent with the three-part test used by the Federal Trade Commission.
• Assembly Bill 981 that would exempt insurance companies from having to comply with the CCPA.
• Assembly Bill 1564 that would allow companies to make a toll-free telephone number, email address, or website available to consumers who want to submit requests under the CCPA. Currently the statute only allows a toll-free number.

Troutman Sanders will continue to monitor important developments involving changes to the California Consumer Privacy Act and will provide further updates as they are available.