As the proposed amendment California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) teeters on the edge of uncertainty, so could the enforcement date for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The California attorney general has previously stated that the enforcement date for the CCPA will begin July 1, 2020, leaving many businesses rushing to ensure they meet CCPA compliance to avoid potential fines. However, the attorney general’s draft for the proposed enforcement regulation needs to be submitted to the state Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for review along with the State Administrative Procedures Act to enforce such regulations.

In order for the enforcement regulation to become effective on July 1, 2020, it must be filed with the OAL no later than May 31, 2020. With the OAL’s long list of regulations to review, as of right now, the CCPA is nowhere to be found on this list. It’s still possible for the attorney general to seek an emergency review of the CCPA regulation to ensure the July 1, enforcement date. However, this seems highly unlikely as there are only 11 days left before the deadline, which leaves us more uncertainty with the CCPA enforcement date.

As of right now, if the regulation for enforcement is not approved by May 31, 2020, the effective date for CCPA enforcement will be delayed until October 1, 2020. These uncertainties do not eliminate the need for CCPA compliance, in fact, a recent study conducted by Dimension Data on behalf of Truyo, proves that consumers are aware of their data privacy rights and are exercising these rights. According to this study, 24% of privacy professionals said they receive 10 to 50 requests per week and on the higher end, 11% said they receive 100 to 500 requests per week.

These uncertainties with data privacy regulation confirm that only time will tell if the CPRA will make it to the November 2020 ballot, and if the enforcement date for the CCPA will be delayed until October 2020.