The ad industry is telling California officials that the state is layering confusion upon confusion when it comes to trying to comply with new privacy laws, which they suggest are a moving target that is virtually impossible to hit.
That came in comments to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on a third set of modifications to the California Consumer Privacy Act, modifications on top of changes proposed in a Nov. 3 ballot initiative that is likely to pass, the ad groups concede.
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The groups claim the modifications threaten businesses' free speech rights because they "(1) unreasonably restrict consumers from receiving important information about their privacy choices, (2) prescriptively describe how businesses must provide offline notices, and (3) unfairly fail to hold authorized agents to the same consumer notice standards as businesses."
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They argue that the changes would do nothing to help consumers, while impinging on businesses' free speech rights. They want the modifications further modified, including by "clarify[ing] that businesses communicating with consumers via telephone may direct them to an online website containing the required opt out notice as an acceptable way of communicating the right to opt out."
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Joining in the comments were the Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Network Advertising Initiative, American Advertising Federation, and the Digital Advertising Alliance.
ANA's Dan Jaffe said the new modifications on top of the old modifications on top of the ballot initiative will lead to a "never-ending fight to comply with privacy law in California."
