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From Data Brokers to Data Privacy: Analyzing SB 362 and Its Potential Effects

by Chris Pierson on November 28, 2023

We are actively following California Senate Bill 362 (SB 362), known as the “California Delete Act.” This Bill seeks to establish an online portal where consumers can request the deletion of data from data brokers. It carries various implications for both data broker businesses and your personal cybersecurity and privacy. Currently, no federal law provides the ability to prevent data brokers from collecting, selling, or publishing personal information.

Data brokers, companies that collect and either sell or trade personal information, present risks or potential dangers to personal cybersecurity for several reasons:

Privacy Concerns: Data brokers collect vast amounts of personal information from various sources, often without individuals’ explicit consent. They may include everything from contact details to online shopping habits, browsing histories, and more.
Security Risks: Data brokers must store this collected information securely. If they maintain inadequate security measures, unauthorized parties may access the data, leading to identity theft, fraud, or other cybercrimes.
Potential for Misuse: Data brokers might use the collected data in ways that don’t align with an individual’s best interests. For instance, they can target advertising in a manipulative manner or sell the data to parties with malicious intent.
Lack of Transparency: Individuals often don’t know what information data brokers collect about them, who collects it, how they use it, or to whom they sell it. This lack of knowledge makes it hard for individuals to control their personal information.
Legal and Ethical Concerns: Different jurisdictions enforce various laws about data collection and usage.
Difficulty in Correcting Errors: Correcting incorrect information that a data broker has about an individual can be challenging. Such inaccurate data can cause anything from minor inconveniences to serious legal problems.

Some of the implications of SB 362 for private individuals include

Increased Control and Privacy: Consumers gain a more straightforward way to control the collection and use of their personal data. This can significantly enhance individual privacy.
Prioritizing Children’s Privacy: Our children live in an era where they live a large percentage of their lives online. The bill aims to give parents and guardians more power to protect their children’s digital footprint by providing a more efficient mechanism to delete data collected about their children and safeguard their future.
One-Stop Removal: Since the bill allows a centralized way to request data deletion, individuals save substantial time and effort instead of having to approach each data broker separately.
Awareness and Education: The existence of such a portal leads to increased awareness and education about personal data rights and how data is used, helping people make more informed decisions about their online activities.
Potential Reduction in Targeted Advertising: According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a co-author of the bill, 49% of data brokers registered in 2021 were marketing businesses. If many consumers choose to have their data deleted, this may reduce the extent to which they are targeted with personalized advertising and other content based on their data profiles.

The activities of data brokers highlight essential concerns about privacy, security, transparency, and ethics. These potential risks to personal cybersecurity and privacy surpass the benefits, leading to demands for stricter regulation and supervision of the data brokerage industry. As the Pioneer of Personal Cybersecurity™, BlackCloak will continue to support legislation that limits the risks to your privacy.