Notice of Non-Compliance with California Online Privacy Protection Act

Citation
Kamala D. Harris, Cal. Attorney General, Notice of Non-Compliance with California Online Privacy Protection Act (Oct. 26, 2012) (full-text).

Overview
This letter asserts that the operator of a mobile application ("app") that uses the Internet to collect Personally identifiable information (PII) is an "online service" within the meaning of the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). An app's commercial operator must therefore conspicuously post its privacy policy in a means that is reasonably accessible to the consumer. Having a Web site with the applicable privacy policy conspicuously posted may be adequate, but only if a link to that Web site is "reasonably accessible" to the user within the app.

Under California's Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code §§17200 et seq., violations of CalOPPA may result in penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation, i.e., for each copy of the unlawful app downloaded by California consumers. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17206(a).