On February 9, 2024, a California state court of appeal unanimously vacated a lower court ruling, green-lighting the California Privacy Protection Agency’s authority to commence enforcement of the Agency’s first set of regulations. Until now, the Agency’s authority to enforce regulations it has promulgated under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) has been delayed. The Agency had been poised to begin enforcing its latest batch of completed privacy regulations on July 1, 2023, but a trial court’s ruling put this work on hold until March 29, 2024. That hold has now evaporated, and so the Agency can commence enforcement activities with immediate effect. The decision also impacts future Agency rulemaking such as the Agency’s draft regulations on cybersecurity audits, privacy impact assessments, and automated decision-making, which will no longer be subject to the 12-month stay of enforcement.
