Facebook is apparently no longer opposing a proposed California ballot measure that’s designed to protect the privacy of citizen’s in the state, the company announced. The California Consumer Privacy Act, if becomes law, will force companies to be more open about the types of data they store about users.
Unsurprisingly, many companies were opposed to this and started lobbying to not have this go through. These companies included AT&T, Verizon, Google, Comcast and Facebook. Facebook, which has already donated $200,000 to fight the proposition, will no longer be opposing the proposed law. According to statement given to Variety, Facebook will focus its efforts on “supporting reasonable privacy measures in California.”
Alastair Mactaggart, who proposed the bill, says that he’s “gratified that Facebook has dropped its opposition” and has seen “the error of their(sic) ways.” Now that Facebook has backed off, Mactaggart has called for other companies to also withdraw from the fight, saying that Comcast, Verizon and AT&T aren’t “selling our personal information,” why bother.
In a statement given to Gizmodo, a representative called the ballot measure “deeply flawed,” and added that it “will do enormous harm to the California economy while not protecting anyone’s privacy.”
