Californians enacted the strongest privacy law in America, Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act, on election night by 56%.

Proposition 24 will reshape not only the privacy of Californians, but of all Americans.  

The ballot initiative’s passage guarantees that Californians have the right to opt out of the sharing or selling of their information. And the new law prevents companies from using our sensitive personal information – like race, genetic information, and sexual preference – if we say no.

Prop 24 creates a European-style privacy commission with enforcement staff and teeth to protect us and investigate privacy violations. And it expands a private right of action for data breaches.

To address the concerns of social media manipulation, Prop 24 requires companies to reveal the logic behind their algorithms.

There’s been much disinformation about Prop 24. It creates a floor, not a ceiling on privacy.

If the legislature wants to do more to address our privacy rights, then it can add to the law.  However, the tech industry won’t be able to take away our privacy rights in the statehouse when we are not looking.

We are grateful for Alastair Mactaggart, who qualified Prop 24 for the ballot, and all the California voters who supported it. In this week’s Rage for Justice Report podcast I talk with Alastair about what Prop 24 means for our privacy rights.

As the privacy commission gets up and running, California will finally have a government watchdog dedicated to investigating privacy violations and remedying them in real time.

Facebook, Google, and Amazon will face a new cop on the beat.  At Consumer Watchdog, we’ll be working to make sure it’s the strongest cop possible.