The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the coronavirus, has been influencing various sectors around the world. Guided by this, a coalition of 35 advertising groups was responsible for sending a... letter The letter was addressed to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. It questions the implementation of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) on July 1st, and requests a postponement of its enforcement.
According to the coalition, in its letter sent on March 17, "a temporary postponement of the CCPA's implementation would alleviate many of the pressures and stressors on organizations due to COVID-19 and better enable business leaders to make responsible decisions that prioritize the needs and health of their workforce over other matters."
Since then, the coalition has grown to 60 groups, including the Motion Picture Association of America. A revised letter was sent on March 20th, in which the group reaffirmed its position.
However, the Attorney General's office rejected the idea. Its position remains the same as in previous requests to postpone the implementation of the law.
“At the moment, we are committed to enforcing the law either by finalizing the rules or on July 1st, whichever comes first. We are all mindful of the new reality created by COVID-19 and the added value of protecting the privacy of online consumers that comes with the product. We encourage companies to be particularly attentive to data security during this time of emergency,” said a consultant from Becerra.
Tanya Forsheit, president of the Privacy and Data Security Group at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, said that the coalition's request for a postponement was not based on the ability and right to take action from July onwards, which the Attorney General's office would have had. Rather, it was an effort to appeal to the office's humanity.
“Given what’s happening, it’s a completely new environment. You have a workforce that has been sent home, not just because we’re trying to be careful, but because the government says we need to. It’s much harder to address compliance measures from a remote location,” Forsheit said.
In the advertising industry, COVID-19 can be seen as yet another obstacle on the path to CCPA compliance and understanding.
“What the advertising industry is going through with the lack of clarity regarding the law is something it was struggling with before COVID-19. With ad space, in particular, you’re working in a much grayer area with what is and isn’t personal information or a sale. The preliminary regulations haven’t yet provided the direct links they need, so now COVID-19 exacerbates an already difficult situation,” stated Susan Hintze, founder of Hintze Law.
COVID-19, however, presents problems and difficulties that all sectors will face. Therefore, it should not be used as an excuse for non-compliance with the law. But Hintze believes that those companies that are motivated by the coronavirus to avoid applying the law should present detailed and tangible evidence showing that the virus is the sole factor hindering compliance.
“I don’t think you can use COVID-19 as a blanket excuse for all businesses. Will all businesses be affected to some extent? Yes. But if they are placed in a position where the law moves forward and they fall short of compliance obligations, then, as in any other situation, they need to express their particular circumstances that led to some form of non-compliance.”
