How Cool is This? Squire’s Lydia De la Torre Selected to Join Inaugural Board of the CPPA

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Now this is really something.

Our friend, and yours, Lydia F de la Torre–yes, that Lydia– was just selected to the inaugural board for the California Privacy Protection Agency.  She joins a talented team of experts who will help guide California through its new chapter in data privacy. Seems like a pretty good choice since she is, you know, one of the 20 best cyber lawyers in the state.

Now the bad news is that she’ll need to leave the firm to do it but our loss is a big gain for the people of California.

So why is this a big deal? As explained in a press release from the California Senate Pro Tem today, “the CPPA board consists of experts in privacy, technology, and consumer rights.”

“Californians deserve to have their data protected and the individuals appointed today will bring their expertise in technology, privacy and consumer rights to advance that goal,” said Governor Newsom. “These appointees [including Lydia!] represent a new day in online consumer protection and business accountability.”

“The California Privacy Protection Agency marks a historic new chapter in data privacy by establishing the first agency in the country dedicated to protecting forty million Californians’ fundamental privacy rights,” said Attorney General Becerra. “The CPPA Board will help California residents understand and control their data privacy while holding online businesses accountable.”

“The California Privacy Protection Agency Board is part of California’s commitment to the toughest privacy protection laws in the nation,” said Pro Tem Atkins. “The pandemic put us online more than ever—this Board will help protect the most private information of individuals and families for the world we live in now and in the future. I am confident that our Senate Rules nominee, Lydia de la Torre, will bring the kind of expertise the Board will need to take those protections to the next level.”

“In an era of massive data mining, the establishment of this body moves us in the direction of protecting people’s digital identities and consumer rights regarding their personal information,” said Speaker Rendon. “Special attention needs to be paid to assisting immigrants and non-English proficient Californians to have the same rights as everyone.  I am eager to have this board and its capable members go to work.”

In 2018, California became the first state in the U.S. to equip consumers with new privacy tools and new privacy rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act. On November 3, 2020, California voters approved Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which created the California Privacy Protection Agency. Enforcement of the CPRA will begin in 2023.

The California Privacy Protection Agency will have full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to implement and enforce the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act. The board of the CPPA will appoint the agency’s executive director, officers, counsel and employees. The agency may bring enforcement actions related to the CCPA or CPRA before an administrative law judge. The Attorney General will retain civil enforcement authority over the CCPA and the CPRA.

For TCPAworld dwellers, the CPPA is sort of like the FCC to the TCPA-it will oversee and enforce the statute. That sort of makes Lydia a “Commissioner” of the body that oversees the CCPA. Pretty important–and cool–role to play. She’ll have a big role in implementing state privacy policy–and I couldn’t be happier for her.

So from all of us at TCPAWorld.com– congrats Lydia!

 

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

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  1. Pingback: BOOM!: Three More Ace Privacy Lawyers Leave BakerHostetler for Squire Patton Boggs – TCPAWorld

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