California Privacy Protection Agency Board Adopts and Approves CCPA Regulations and Discusses Preliminary Rulemaking for Cybersecurity Audits, Risk Assessments, and Automated Decision-Making

The California Privacy Protection Agency Board (the “Board”) held a public meeting on February 3, 2023, adopting and approving the current set of draft rules (the “Draft Rules”), which implement and clarify the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”). The Draft Rules cover many CCPA requirements, including restrictions on the collection and use of personal information, transparency obligations, consumer rights and responding to consumer requests, and service provider contract requirements. At the meeting, the Board also addressed additional proposed rulemaking processes concerning cybersecurity audits, risk assessments, and automated decision-making. 

According to the Board, the Draft Rules are substantively unchanged from the most recent prior draft. Philip Laird, the General Counsel of the CPPA, indicated that the current rulemaking package would be submitted to the California Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) for approval in approximately two weeks, after which OAL will have thirty business days to complete its review. If the OAL requires revisions to the proposed rules, those revisions will need an additional notice and comment period. Although, at its prior meeting, the Board estimated that the rules might be implemented in April 2023, during the meeting on February 3, 2023, no expected implementation date was provided.

At the meeting, the Board also authorized the release, for public comment, of a “discussion draft” of Preliminary Comments on Proposed Rulemaking for Cybersecurity Audits, Risk Assessments, and Automated Decision-Making. In the discussion draft, the Board seeks public comment, among other things, on current “gaps or weaknesses” in laws or regulations governing CCPA-covered businesses as to cybersecurity, risk assessments, and automated decision-making. Notably, the discussion draft requests public comment on the benefits and drawbacks for accepting risk assessments that are in compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) or Colorado Privacy Act (“CPA”).

As we have previously written, the CCPA’s HR-data and business-to-business data exemptions expired on January 1, 2023. We are continuing to monitor the CCPA rulemaking process, including rules related to cybersecurity, automated decision-making, and risk assessments.