Commentary

California's 'Global Privacy Control' Mandate Won't Hurt Publishers

  • by August 2, 2021
California Attorney General Rob Bonta last month announced a mandate that companies honor a universal opt-out tool developed by privacy advocates. The order is unlikely to have a negative effect on publishers, which typically have opt-out policies on data sharing.
The mandate on “Global Privacy Control,” which is opposed by a broad group of advertiser and business associations, would require companies to honor global opt-outs of data-sharing instead of insisting that consumers opt out on a site-by-site basis.

The mandate is in accordance with California’s privacy law that gives people the right to learn what personal information has been collected about them by companies, have that information deleted and opt out of the sale of data to third parties, as reported by Digital News Daily.


Regulations approved last year by former Attorney General Xavier Becerra allow consumers to make global opt-out requests through user-enabled browser plug-ins, privacy settings, device settings or other mechanisms.
Most browsers have privacy settings to limit tracking, but they don't necessarily indicate that people don't want their data "sold," as defined by California law. Global Privacy Control, which was released in October, transmits a do-not-sell request when consumers visit websites.
Bonta last month said companies must honor requests sent through Global Privacy Control. He described the setting as a “‘stop selling my data switch’ available on some internet browsers, like Mozilla Firefox, Duck Duck Go and Brave, or as a browser extension.”
While many publishers share consumer data with third parties, they also already allow consumers to opt out of data sales, consistent with the California mandate.

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