The CCPA: A Bargain for Data Transparency

Abstract

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), aims to increase consumer transparency regarding businesses’ use of personal data. Within the bargained-for-exchange relationship between companies and consumers, consumers benefit from data-collecting platforms while unknowingly paying the “price” of sharing personal data. The CCPA assumes that equipping consumers with increased transparency regarding such data-for-service transactions will place consumers in a better bargaining position. In so doing, the CCPA adopts an individualist framework, providing consumers with primarily self-management mechanisms to protect personal data. This essay argues that legislation such as the CCPA may more effectively protect consumer privacy by incorporating the relational aspects of data processing and implementation.