- Several class action complaints have been filed in recent months against high-profile websites alleging technical violations of California's Shine the Light law. The complaints claim up to $3,000 in damages per California consumer.
- The Shine the Light law is intended to address the sharing of personal information for direct marketing purposes by requiring businesses with California customers to either permit customers to opt out of sharing personal information for direct marketing purposes, or to have a process to tell customers what categories of information the company shares with what specific companies.
- Although there are several ways to comply with Shine the Light, demonstrating compliance that excuses the requirements addressed in the lawsuits could require expensive discovery and thus could not be achieved through a motion to dismiss. Depending on a company's risk tolerance, it may be worthwhile to make certain changes to its privacy policy to head off these potentially expensive actions altogether.
Read the full update.
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