California's Out Front in Privacy Protection.

• Author: Greenberg, Pam

The Consumer Privacy Act is not the only example of groundbreaking consumer privacy and security legislation to come from California. The home of Silicon Valley also enacted the first law requiring companies to notify consumers of data breaches. All 50 states now have breach-notification laws like California's.

California lawmakers have passed several other privacy laws, and although only a few other states have followed suit, the Golden State's actions have had an impact beyond its borders.

Online Privacy Policies It's now common to see privacy policies posted prominently on websites and online services. That's at least partly due to California's Online Privacy Protection Act, enacted in 2003. It requires websites and other online services that collect personally identifiable information from California residents to post and comply with an online privacy policy.

The law also requires commercial websites and online services to disclose in their privacy policies how they respond to web-browser "Do Not Track" signals or similar mechanisms. Consumers can turn on these mechanisms to prevent tracking of their personal information across sites or services and over time.

An Online Eraser for Minors In another first, California passed the Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World Act, known as the "Online Eraser" law, in 2013. It allows Californians under 18 to request removal of their own social media or other online postings that they later regret having shared.

It also prohibits websites or online services catering to children from advertising products or services that minors are legally prohibited from buying or are based on personal information collected about a minor.

Protecting Personal Information California law requires...