Companies that do business in California know that it is a magnet for class action litigation.  The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), a new privacy law that applies to data collected about California residents, will provide even more incentive to plaintiff’s attorneys to bring suit in California.

The CCPA was enacted in early 2018 as a political compromise to stave off a poorly drafted ballot initiative.  Although the CCPA is scheduled to go into force in early 2020, there is a great deal of confusion regarding the requirements of the CCPA, including the degree to which it aligns with other privacy regulations such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).  To help address that confusion, BCLP is publishing a multi-part series to address the most frequently asked litigation-related questions concerning the CCPA.  BCLP is also working with clients to assess – and mitigate – litigation risks for when the CCPA goes

The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), was passed last summer as a compromise to avoid a highly restrictive privacy regime slated to appear on the November 2018 ballot in California.  Amidst much controversy and debate, the California Attorney General’s Office is set to draft implementing regulations for the new law.  As part of that process, six public rulemaking workshops have been scheduled for the public to provide comments and voice concerns.  The first  took place on January 8, 2019 in San Francisco and was attended by a cross-section of trade associations and privacy advocacy groups.  Although the public comments covered a variety of topics, a few themes emerged:

• Industry groups want to more closely align the CCPA’s provisions with other privacy regulations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Many businesses have already undertaken the Herculean task of coming into compliance with the EU law.  They
  

The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) final rule expanding phthalate restrictions in children’s toys and child care articles takes effect this week, on April 25, 2018.  The rule renews the ban on DEHP, DBP and BBP, makes the interim ban on DINP permanent, and adds four new phthalates to the list of banned phthalates in children’s products.

Phthalates are a group of chemicals typically used to soften vinyl and other plastics and make them pliable and easier to grip and are found in numerous household products.   The final rule comes nearly a decade after CPSC first began to regulate phthalates over concerns that phthalates can act as endocrine disruptors.

To recap, in 2008, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), which prohibited toys and child care items containing the following three phthalates:

• di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP);
• dibutyl phthalate (DBP); and
• butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) .

The CPSIA