Bill would make it easier for consumers to exercise their privacy rights with a simple online tool to opt out of information sharing
Sacramento, CA — The California Legislature today approved A.B. 3048, a bill requiring internet browsers and mobile operating systems to offer consumers the ability to exercise their privacy preferences through an online tool called an “opt-out preference signal”.
Opt-out preference signals allow a user to persistently signal their intent to exercise their right to opt out of information sharing. For example, a user with an opt-out preference signal enabled on their internet browser will automatically send an opt-out request to each website they encounter during a browsing session.
While California consumers already have the right to send legally binding opt-out preference signals under the historic California Consumer Privacy Act, major browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Edge, as well as the Android and iOS mobile platforms, do not provide them on their services. Instead, users must download third-party software if they want to take advantage of this right.
The bill now heads to Governor Newsom for his signature.
Matt Schwartz, policy analyst for privacy and technology policy at Consumer Reports, said, “California has taken another massive step to advance digital rights by passing this legislation. We thank Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal and the California Privacy Protection Agency for their leadership in advancing this legislation, which will make it easier for millions of California consumers to exercise their right to opt-out of data sales and sharing of their personal information for targeted advertising.
“We know that individual opt-outs are extremely burdensome to use and that most folks just want an easy way to tell companies not to track them. If signed into law, this bill will dramatically improve privacy protections for Californians by ensuring that major browsers and operating systems can no longer suppress consumers’ legal rights to send universal opt-outs by hiding the setting or making it hard to use,” Schwartz added.
CR has long been an advocate for the data rights of consumers. The nonprofit, independent organization was a strong supporter of the California Consumer Privacy Act and the state’s Delete Act.
CR is a founding organization of the Global Privacy Control, a browser-level privacy signal designed to allow Internet users to notify businesses of their preference to not have their data be sold or shared, or used for cross-context behavioral advertising. GPC has been recognized by privacy regulators in California and Colorado as a legally-binding opt-out signal under those states’ comprehensive privacy laws. CR is also working on technical solutions to further empower consumers to take control of their data, including through our app called Permission Slip.