Facebook drops opposition to CA Consumer Privacy Act
WASHINGTON (KGO) -- On Mark Zuckerberg's second day of testimony in front on Congress, a second headline involving Facebook has emerged.
The social media giant has dropped its opposition to the California Consumer Privacy Act, a ballot measure voters may see in November.
A Facebook spokesperson released a statement that reads, "We took this step in order to focus our efforts on supporting reasonable privacy measures in California."
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In a news release, Alastair Mactaggart, the Chairman of Californians for Consumer Privacy wrote, "We're gratified that Facebook has dropped its opposition to the California Consumer Privacy Act. Now that they have seen the error of their ways, we hope they will work with us proactively to protect the personal information of all Californians, and support us publicly and financially. "We believe that all consumers deserve the basic rights outlined in our initiative. We call on the remaining corporations who have contributed to the Super PAC opposing this common-sense measure to drop their opposition."
Previously, Facebook had contributed to the campaign opposing the ballot measure-- along with corporate giants including Google.
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ABC7 News reached out to Google for comment and received this statement from the Committee to Protect California Jobs:
"It is unsurprising that proponents of the so-called 'California Consumer Privacy Act' are looking to distract from their deeply flawed initiative that will do enormous harm to the California economy while not protecting anyone's privacy. The proposed measure simply disconnects California. It is unworkable and requires the internet in California to operate differently - limiting our choices, hurting our businesses, and cutting our connection to the global economy. That is why we will continue to proceed with an aggressive campaign, including major announcements of new opposition in the next few weeks."
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The Privacy Act claims it will allow California consumers to:
To see what categories of their personal information large businesses collect about them.
To tell those corporations to stop selling their personal information, and to not discriminate against them for making that choice (i.e. the company couldn't then refuse service, or increase prices).
And, to hold businesses accountable to victims of data breaches when they are reckless with Californians' personal information.
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