New California Privacy Law a "Game-Changer," McCarthy Tells In-House Counsel

Missouri Lawyers Weekly interviewed Shook’s Colman McCarthy for the Spring issue of In-House Counsel magazine, a special supplement focusing on evolving privacy laws.

While general counsel grapple with data breaches, staying abreast of the laws consumers are challenging is also complex. In 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect, which allows “any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly” with personal information.

“It is possibly the most broad definition of personal information in the world,” McCarthy informed In-House Counsel.

The publication reported that New Mexico and Massachusetts are considering similar measures as California.

“The California privacy act is a game-changer for U.S. data laws,” McCarthy explained to In-House Counsel, which reported, “It expands the concept of personal information to almost anything not already accessible to the public.” 

Shook’s Privacy and Data Security Practice helps clients handle the complex challenges of collection, use, storage and disposal of sensitive data and customer information.