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- California voters just passed Proposition 24, a ballot measure that expands the state’s existing privacy laws and scales back the amount of data that big tech companies are allowed to collect on people.
- The law will make it harder for Facebook and Google to track people’s activity through third parties, which could make much of the tech giants’ advertising business models obsolete, experts told Business Insider.
- While Prop 24 is active only in California, it will effectively apply to all of the US because of the state’s huge influence on the tech industry.
A new law passed by California voters in the November election will set an unprecedented standard for digital privacy in the US, making it harder for big tech companies like Facebook and Google to track people’s data.
The Consumer Privacy Rights Act, also known as Proposition 24, was on track to pass in California as of Wednesday morning, with 56% of voters supporting the measure and over three-quarters of ballots counted.
The law will strengthen existing privacy measures in California, allowing consumers to stop businesses from selling or sharing their personal information, including race, religion, genetic details, geographic location, and sexual orientation.
It will also set tighter restrictions on how websites track your data to sell that information to advertising partners. Google and Facebook — two of the largest players in online advertising — both gather personal data collected by third-party websites to strengthen their advertising products, which make up the bulk of their revenue.
Prop 24 could effectively block companies like Facebook and Google from continuing to collect that data, which could change their business models and cut into their existing revenue streams, privacy-compliance experts told Business Insider.
“The third-party adtech industry will need to evolve … otherwise, their business models risk becoming obsolete,” said Heather Federman, the vice president of privacy and policy at BigID, a data-privacy compliance firm.
A Facebook spokesperson did not provide comment when reached by Business Insider. A Google spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment. Neither company has publicly taken a stance on Prop 24.
The law comes as online-ad giants’ business models are facing other new threats. Apple is planning an iPhone software update that will let users opt out of ad trackers, which Facebook has vehemently protested. Web browsers including Chrome, Safari, and Firefox are rolling out similar tools to let users opt out of tracking, which could cut into advertisers’ revenue.
Prop 24 will become enforceable in 2023. Before that happens, California regulators are expected to provide more details about how it will be enforced, which could shape its influence on major tech companies.
Despite its potential to…
