"alifornia
passed one of the toughest online privacy bills in the country
Thursday, despite lobbying by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon,
AT&T, and others, who poured money into an industry-aligned group that tried to defeat the measure.
If signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the bill, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018,
will require technology companies that collect user information to
disclose the type of data they collect, details on the advertisers or
other third parties with which they share data, and allow customers to
opt out of having the data collected about them sold. The new bill also
gives customers the option to request companies delete personal
information collected on them—like data on how many kids a person has,
their buying habits, location information, or other non-publicly
available data. Companies that do peddle user data have to offer the new
privacy options for free and won’t be allowed to degrade service if a
customer opts to no longer have their data sold."
