ANA Requests Further Clarity and Additional Time to Support Compliance with Updated California Privacy Regulations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANA REQUESTS FURTHER CLARITY AND ADDITIONAL TIME TO SUPPORT COMPLIANCE WITH UPDATED CALIFORNIA PRIVACY REGULATIONS

WASHINGTON (FEB. 25, 2020) – The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) submitted comments today calling on the California Attorney General’s Office to clarify ambiguous provisions in its updated regulations to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) so that businesses can comply with the law. The association expressed concern about the lack of finalized regulations ahead of potential enforcement on July 1, 2020. ANA asked the Attorney General to instead begin enforcement in January 2021 to allow businesses covered by the law adequate time to implement the requirements that are ultimately adopted.

“We and our members strongly support the responsible use of data and the underlying goal of enhancing consumer privacy that is inherent in the CCPA and its implementing regulations. We are encouraged that the updated rules provide some enhanced clarity surrounding a number of ambiguous provisions in the law,” said Dan Jaffe, Group Executive Vice President of government relations for the ANA. “Nevertheless, the regulations remain significantly unclear in several areas of vital importance to both consumers and businesses. We urge the Attorney General to carefully consider the issues we address in these comments and to update the draft rules so they enhance consumer privacy and provide more clarity for businesses.”

ANA’s comments highlight issues that could have significant and detrimental impacts on consumers and businesses if they are not clarified by the Attorney General. These issues, for example, could hinder consumers’ ability to access programs, products, and services, like loyalty and rewards programs, they enjoy and expect; thwart consumers’ ability to make specific choices about entities’ use of their data in the marketplace; and impede the development of digestible and understandable privacy notices that appropriately inform consumers of business data practices. Moreover, the implementing regulations, as currently drafted, could impose significant costs on businesses and have a damaging impact on the California economy.

“Our members have taken significant steps to create policies, processes, and procedures to facilitate compliance with the CCPA. Although the law became effective on January 1, 2020, the lack of finalized regulations to implement the CCPA has left our members and thousands of other California businesses uncertain concerning their ultimate compliance obligations,” Jaffe said. “The impending enforcement date of July 1, 2020 and the lack of final requirements for entities to implement finalized rules make matters even more complicated and burdensome for businesses that are earnestly trying to develop processes to facilitate compliance with the CCPA. It is essential that the Attorney General continue to work to provide more clarity to help ensure that consumers are given effective privacy protections and that businesses are equipped to structure systems and practices to offer those protections to consumers.”

Our comments can be read in full here.

ABOUT THE ANA:
The ANA (Association of National Advertisers)'s mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, for brands and businesses, and for the industry. Growth is foundational for all participants in the ecosystem. The ANA seeks to align those interests by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed and embraced by the ANA Board of Directors and the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA's membership consists of more than 1,600 domestic and international companies, including over 1,000 client-side marketers and nonprofit fundraisers and 600 marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). Collectively, ANA member companies represent 20,000 brands, engage 50,000 industry professionals, and invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Dan Jaffe
Group Executive Vice President, Government Relations
202.296.2359 (office)
646.369.4886 (mobile)
djaffe@ana.net