California Announces Groundbreaking Data Broker Fines: 5 Steps Your Business Can Take to Avoid Being Next
California has moved to fine data brokers, marking what is being described as a significant enforcement action in the state's ongoing effort to regulate the industry. The development is prompting legal advisers to counsel businesses on how to reduce their compliance exposure.
Why this matters: Data brokers collect and sell personal information about people who never agreed to do business with them. Most people have no idea these companies exist, let alone what they hold. California fining them is not just a business story. It is a sign that regulators are starting to treat the sale of personal data as something that carries real consequences. Whether the fines are large enough to change behavior is a different question, but enforcement is better than none.
Who should care: Lawyers · Privacy officers · Compliance · General readers · Policy
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