By Chris Ramirez and Olivia Wynkoop, GOLDEN GATE XPRESS
October 3, 2020
The Xpress 2020 California Ballot Measure Voting Guide (Con Traducción) (Sa Pagsasalin) (翻译)
Californians will have the option to vote on 12 statewide ballot measures this November. A handful of these deal with longly contested topics, such as affirmative action and rent control. In order for a proposition to have made the ballot this year, voter signature-based propositions required 623,212 votes for initiative statutes and 997,139 for initiative constitutional amendments. Voter signatures pushed eight propositions forward, while the California State Legislature is seeking to modify the California Constitution with the other four proposed propositions.
The Xpress California Ballot Measure Voting Guide was created as a comprehensive resource to clarify what each proposition entails, as well as who supports and opposes each proposition.
Proposition 24, Consumer Personal Information Law and Agency Initiative:
If passed, Proposition 24 would expand upon the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, creating a new government agency – the Privacy Protection Agency, designed to regulate data privacy. Consumers would also be permitted to change incorrect information, prohibit data sharing and protect “sensitive personal information.” Business violation penalties would triple for data violations of minors 16 and under.
The California Consumer Privacy Act initially gave California consumers a say in how much personal information businesses can collect from them. Since then, businesses must now disclose how personal data is used and stored, allow consumers to delete information, opt-out of their data being sold and cannot discriminate customers for doing so. Proposition 24 is seeking to further heighten these privacy measures.
Organizations such as Common Sense and Consumer Watchdog say this proposition would make California the example for privacy protection laws, especially as a state run by major tech companies.
“Especially post-COVID, people are going to be more sensitive to privacy concerns,” San Francisco-based real estate developer and chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy Alastair Mactaggar said in June. Mactaggar also heavily pushed for the 2018 privacy act as well.
Opponents argue that there simply hasn’t been enough time to determine how effective the existing privacy act is yet, as it’s taken effect this July.
“We fear Prop 24 would undermine existing California privacy regulations by making it more burdensome for consumers to prohibit Big Tech companies from selling their confidential data,” Linda Sherry, Director of National Priorities at Consumer Action, said in a statement.
Proponents of Proposition 24 include: Common Sense; Consumer Watchdog
Opponents of Proposition 24 include: ACLU of California; Council on Islamic American Relations – California; Consumer Federation of California; Media Alliance
