An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 10 - Privacy Rights Of Students And Employees

 In the case of an online service, dissemination the policy using any other reasonably accessible means of making the privacy policy available for consumers of the online service. For example, it appears that the language of the policy allows an online service provider to send an email to the consumer containing the electronic privacy policy.

f. Violations Of CalOPPA Violations of CalOPPA occur only after an operator is notified that its Web site does not contain a compliant privacy policy and then subsequently fails to comply within thirty days from such notification. 1711 An operator, as defined in the Act, may be held civilly liable for violations of the Act if it fails to comply with the Act’s provisions either:  Knowingly and willfully; or  Negligently and materially. CalOPPA does not specify what types of damages are available to those who file civil lawsuits. g. Enforcement Actions Several potential violations have been resolved through informal processes or settlement. For example, in May 2008, a coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Center for Digital Democracy and Electronic Frontier Foundation, sent a letter to Google’s CEO questioning the absence of a privacy link on Google’s homepage. 1712 Subsequently, Google added a direct “Privacy and Terms” link to its homepage. 1713 On February 22, 2012, Attorney General Harris reached an agreement with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard and Research in Motion in regards to their mobile-app privacy policies. 1714 The companies adopted a Joint Statement of Principles which included a commitment to post a CalOPPA-compliant privacy policy in mobile apps and an agreement to implement a method of reporting and responding to instances of non-compliance. Facebook signed onto the Joint Statement in June 2012. In July 2012, the Attorney General’s Office created a Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit, for enforcement of state and federal privacy laws, including CalOPPA. 1715 3. T HE C ALIFORNIA P RIVACY R IGHTS F OR C ALIFORNIA M INORS I N T HE D IGITAL W ORLD A CT The Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World Act, effective January 1, 2015 and codified at Business and Professions Code Sections 22580- 22582, requires an “operator” of an “Internet Website, online service, online application, or mobile application directed to minors” to not “market or advertise” certain products on its site, service, or application directed to minors. 1716 These products include: alcoholic beverages, cannabis, firearms, ammunition, handgun safety certificates, aerosol container paint capable of defacing property, tobacco products, BB devices, dangerous fireworks, electronic cigarettes, and tanning in ultraviolet tanning devices, among others. 1717

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 383