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by Celia Guimaraes December 15, 2019 Greater protection of privacy for Californians since 2020. The Consumer Privacy Act comes into force, applies to companies of any origin that operate in the State and collect personal information for commercial purposes of at least 50,000 people, namely almost all technology companies, but also app and site developers, providers and providers of mobile and streaming services, among other categories. Even employers in California - something completely new in the United States - will have to provide employees and contractors with notification about the information the company collects about them and for what purpose.

After Cambridge Analytica
An essential part of the Californian law concerns the prohibition of the transfer of personal data of citizens: the provision considers as a sale of personal information also sharing for non-monetary purposes, such as online advertising that often shares user data for targeted advertising. A possible relapse of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that swept Facebook in 2018.

Like the European Gdpr
The new Californian law refers - in part, in an apparently less restrictive manner - to the General Data Protection Regulation (Gdpr) of the European Union, which entered into force in all Member States on 25 May 2018. It establishes that the personal data of European citizens are secured by those who use them (from large companies to small companies wherever they are); that companies must notify data theft within 72 hours and guarantee users both the deletion of the data they are in possession of and the free electronic copy of what is stored. The regulation also provides for fines of up to 4% of the company's overall annual turnover in the event of an infringement.

First in the States
California has always anticipated other US states on consumer privacy, notes Natasha Singer of the New York Times. It was the first State to require companies to report violations of citizens' data and to urge companies to allow minors to delete their posts, tweets, photos and other material from the Internet while, again from next January 1, it takes effect in California the "Body Camera Accountability Act" which prohibits the police from using facial recognition tools enhanced by artificial intelligence. Also in this case, California anticipates the United States with a three-year moratorium on the use of these technologies, which will be reviewed in 2023.

Already in 1972, the Californians had voted to change the Constitution of the State and add privacy to the list of inalienable rights, on a par with freedom of thought and freedom of religion.