On September 23, 2020, the Department of Justice released its proposed changes to Section 230 of the DMCA – the first serious attempt at reigning in the immunity rights enjoyed by the duopoly of Facebook and Google.  In his cover letter, the Attorney General wrote:  “I am pleased to present for consideration by Congress a legislative proposal to modernize and clarify the immunity that 47 U.S.C. § 230 provides to online platforms that host and moderate content.”  Recognizing that “platforms have been allowed to invoke Section 230 to escape liability even when they knew their services were being used for criminal activity”, the Attorney General stressed that the initial purposes of the 1996 DMCA have long ago been served.  

Accordingly, the first tranche of changes is focused on ensuring editorial decisions are being done objectively and in good faith – with a proposed definition of “good faith” actually baked into the proposed new Section 230.  Specifically, Section 230(c)(2) is amended to require platforms have an “objectively reasonable belief” that the speech they are removing falls within certain enumerated categories.

The second area of changes addresses growing illicit online content by limiting publisher immunity when an online platform (I) purposefully promotes, facilitates, or solicits third­ party content that would violate federal criminal law; (2) has actual knowledge that specific content it is hosting violates federal law; or (3) fails to remove unlawful content after receiving notice by way of a final court judgment.  See Proposed § 230(d).

And finally, the third major change amends Section 230(e) to expressly confirm that the immunity provided by Section 230 would not apply to civil enforcement actions brought by the federal government.  This change provides for an important federal enforcement tool against platforms should the need arise – just like with any other company in the United States.  See Proposed § 230(e).

A careful review of these changes evidences a long-overdue updating that hopefully begets bipartisan support despite the current schism between our two major political parties.   Indeed, given the lobbying might of Facebook, Google and other online platforms, any alteration of the immunities granted under Section 230 will require nothing less than true bipartisan support.

UPDATE: October 28, 2020

On October 28, 2020, the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the following topic: “Does Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?” The Hearing was to “examine whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has outlived its usefulness in today’s digital age. It will also examine legislative proposals to modernize the decades-old law, increase transparency and accountability among big technology companies for their content moderation practices, and explore the impact of large ad-tech platforms on local journalism and consumer privacy.”

Other than highlighting a pretty wild lockdown beard, the session provided little real ammo for either side of this debate. Perhaps in 2021, that dynamic may change.

On July 16, 2020, the EU Court of Justice decided “Schrems II” and invalidated the EU Commission’s Decision 2016/1250 regarding the adequacy of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (“the Privacy Shield Decision”).  As described in the Press Release issued by the Court:

[T]he limitations on the protection of personal data arising from the domestic law of the United States on the access and use by US public authorities of such data transferred from the European Union to that third country, which the Commission assessed in Decision 2016/1250, are not circumscribed in a way that satisfies requirements that are essentially equivalent to those required under EU law, by the principle of proportionality, in so far as the surveillance programmes based on those provisions are not limited to what is strictly necessary.

This case was the second one brought by Max Schrems against Facebook in its Irish domicile – which is why the case is now in the hands of the Irish Data Protection Commission. In rejecting the use of a Privacy Shield Ombudsperson who was independent from the Intelligence Community – the agreed-upon safeguard found in the Privacy Shield Decision, the Court of Justice ruled that such a mechanism “does not provide data subjects with any cause of action before a body which offers guarantees substantially equivalent to those required by EU law, such as to ensure both the independence of the Ombudsperson provided for by that mechanism and the existence of rules empowering the Ombudsperson to adopt decisions that are binding on the US intelligence services.” 

Now that the Court has invalidated the European Commission’s adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, thousands of  US companies relying on such a mechanism will need to reevaluate their compliance efforts.  The US Commerce Department echoed today the same disappointment likely felt by these companies.  Reminding companies there is still a “US” component very much still intact in the “EU-US Privacy Shield”, the Secretary of Commerce also stated that “today’s decision does not relieve participating organizations of their Privacy Shield obligations.”

Beginning on July 1, 2020, the California Attorney General’s office may start sending out warnings of potential CCPA violations and give notified businesses 30 days to correct those violations before facing possible fines or lawsuits.

In rejecting numerous requests to delay CCPA enforcement, Attorney General Xavier Becerra reasoned: “As families continue to move their lives increasingly online, it is essential for Californians to know their privacy options. Our office is committed to enforcing the law starting July 1.”

In November 2020, California voters may take a swipe at the AG’s efforts by approving a new ballot initiative – the California Privacy Rights Act, that creates a privacy enforcement agency some may consider “a woefully underfunded paper tiger” yet will still nevertheless have exclusive enforcement power over certain provisions of CCPA to the exclusion of the AG’s office.

Given the very long gestation period for the proposed CPRA – this ballot law would become effective January 1, 2023 and enforceable on July 1, 2023, the jury is still certainly out on whether its passage would ever directly benefit consumers or just lead to more lobbyist driven amendments by the California duopoly of Google and Facebook. As of right now, the Tech Lords of Stanford certainly remain in complete control.

UPDATE:  November 4, 2020

On November 3, 2020 – despite a significant late push by data oligarchs such as Google, the CPRA ballot initiative won by 56% of the vote.  As stated by Alastair Mactaggart, Chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy and the Prop 24 sponsor:  “With tonight’s historic passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act, we are at the beginning of a journey that will profoundly shape the fabric of our society by redefining who is in control of our most personal information and putting consumers back in charge of their own data.”  

Former Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang – who was the Chair of the Board of Advisors for Californians for Consumer Privacy, added:  “I look forward to ushering in a new era of consumer privacy rights with passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act. . . . It will sweep the country and I’m grateful to Californians for setting a new higher standard for how our data is treated.”

There is no denying this was a momentous vote.  On the other hand, a lot can happen by the CPRA enforcement date of January 1, 2023 – including passage of a law via standard lobbying channels or a new ballot initiative launched by the data oligarchs either with either one trimming the gains made this last election cycle.

On June 2, 2020, the Office of the California Attorney General (“OAG”) submitted its final proposed regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  The OAG press release suggests these final regulations clarify “important transparency and accountability mechanisms for businesses subject to the law.” A number of those reviewing these final regulations correctly point out that they have not changed much from the last draft.

The most striking feature of these proposed regulations, however, is actually found in the explanatory reasoning jointly filed by the AG. The OAG Statement of Reasons suggests the OAG may have, in effect, mandated more than what was expressly required under CCPA, namely an opt-out setting for the sale of personal information that can be managed by consumers on a global basis.

By way of background, consumers have long had the capability to send “Do Not Track” (DNT) header signals from their browsers – with privacy advocates long providing tutorials on how consumer-choice DNT tools could be implemented on browsers.  Given that a DNT signal is a machine-readable header and not an embedded cookie, i.e., a file placed by websites into a consumer’s computer in order to store privacy preferences, consumers can delete installed cookies without disrupting their global DNT signal.  Some companies such as Apple actually do not even respond to DNT signals because they claim that they do not “track its customers over time and across third party websites to provide targeted advertising.”

The OAG sets forth in § 999.315 the relevant “Requests to Opt-Out” language later interpreted by the OAG in its Statement of Reasons.

Section 999.315(c) of the OAG’s regulations reads: “A business’s methods for submitting requests to opt-out shall be easy for consumers to execute and shall require minimal steps to allow the consumer to opt-out. A business shall not utilize a method that is designed with the purpose or has the substantial effect of subverting or impairing a consumer’s decision to opt-out.” And, the final Subsection (d)(1) reads:  “Any privacy control developed in accordance with these regulations shall clearly communicate or signal that a consumer intends to opt-out of the sale of personal information.”

Previously, an EFF-led privacy coalition recommended the deletion of the following clause from § 999.315(d)(1):  “The privacy control shall require that the consumer affirmatively select their choice to opt-out and shall not be designed with any pre-selected settings.”  That recommendation was adopted by the OAG and the “affirmative selection” language was deleted – obviating the need for a potential website-by-website affirmative opt-out selection by consumers.

While the § 315(d)(1) recommendation was adopted, the OAG chose not to adopt the EFF coalition’s recommendation to add the following clause at the end of § 315(c):  “A business shall treat a “Do Not Track” browsing header as such a choice.”  By rejecting this suggested new language, the OAG chose not to limit the scope of any implementation technology. As reflected in the OAG’s Statement of Reasons, this rejection actually ends up being an even more meaningful nod in the direction of the EFF Coalition.

Specifically, the OAG recognized it’s goal was in imposing clear regulatory parameters while not imposing technological requirements that might be limiting on a company:

By requiring that a privacy control be designed to clearly communicate or signal that the consumer intends to opt-out of the sale of personal information, the regulation sets clear parameters for what the control must communicate so as to avoid any ambiguous signals.  It does not prescribe a particular mechanism or technology; rather, it is technology-neutral to support innovation in privacy services to facilitate consumers’ exercise of their right to opt-out.  The regulation benefits both businesses and innovators who will develop such controls by providing guidance on the parameters of what must be communicated.  And because the regulation mandates that the privacy control clearly communicate that the consumer intends to opt-out of the sale of personal information, the consumer’s use of the control is sufficient to demonstrate that they are choosing to exercise their CCPA right.

More to the point, the OAG also explains: 

Subsection (d) requires a business that collects personal information online to treat user-enabled global privacy controls as a valid request to opt-out.  This subsection is forward-looking and intended to encourage innovation and the development of technological solutions to facilitate and govern the submission of requests to opt-out.  Given the ease and frequency by which personal information is collected and sold when a consumer visits a website, consumers should have a similarly easy ability to request to opt-out globally.  This regulation offers consumers a global choice to opt-out of the sale of personal information, as opposed to going website by website to make individual requests with each business each time they use a new browser or a new device. (emphasis added).

Perhaps anticipating some push back, the OAG goes into detail regarding its authority by referencing prior experience with DNT requirements under the California Online Privacy Protection Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 22575 et seq.) (CalOPPA).  To that end, on May 21, 2014, the OAG previously released a set of recommendations to assist with compliance of CalOPPA’s DNT disclosures.   

The OAG justifies its approach as follows:

As the primary enforcer of [CalOPPA], the OAG has reviewed numerous privacy policies for compliance with CalOPPA, which requires the operator of an online service to disclose, among other things, how it responds to “Do Not Track” signals or other mechanisms that provide consumers the ability to exercise choice regarding the collection of personally identifiable information about their online activities over time and across third-party websites or online services.  (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 22757, subd. (b)(5).)  The majority of businesses disclose that they do not comply with those signals, meaning that they do not respond to any mechanism that provides consumers with the ability to exercise choice over how their information is collected.  Accordingly, the OAG has concluded that businesses will very likely similarly ignore or reject a global privacy control if the regulation permits discretionary compliance.  The regulation is thus necessary to prevent businesses from subverting or ignoring consumer tools related to their CCPA rights and, specifically, the exercise of the consumer’s right to opt-out of the sale of personal information. Contrary to public comments that the user-enabled global privacy setting is outside of the scope of the OAG’s authority, subsection (d) is authorized by the CCPA because it furthers and is consistent with the language, intent, and purpose of the CCPA.  (emphasis added).

Not surprising given its technology neutral approach, the manner in which companies will comply with a global opt-out capability is not spelled out by the OAG.  Companies may address a global opt-out setting controlled by consumers by either taking on this obligation utilizing a new product or investing internally in developing a solution. Any such feature, however, will likely be tested by the OAG and courts. No matter how this new requirement is implemented, however, it is very likely the OAG will come out swinging given that the November 2020 ballot initiative spearheaded by Alastair Mactaggart – the California Privacy Rights Act, would create the “California Privacy Protection Agency” as a new enforcement arm and potential competition for the OAG.

UPDATE:  November 4, 2020

On November 3, 2020 – despite a significant late push by data oligarchs such as Google, the CPRA ballot initiative won by 56% of the vote.  As stated by Alastair Mactaggart, Chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy and the Prop 24 sponsor:  “With tonight’s historic passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act, we are at the beginning of a journey that will profoundly shape the fabric of our society by redefining who is in control of our most personal information and putting consumers back in charge of their own data.”  

Former Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang – who was the Chair of the Board of Advisors for Californians for Consumer Privacy, added:  “I look forward to ushering in a new era of consumer privacy rights with passage of Prop 24, the California Privacy Rights Act. . . . It will sweep the country and I’m grateful to Californians for setting a new higher standard for how our data is treated.”

There is no denying this was a momentous vote.  On the other hand, a lot can happen by the CPRA enforcement date of January 1, 2023 – including passage of a law via standard lobbying channels or a new ballot initiative launched by the data oligarchs either with either one trimming the gains made this last election cycle.