Reilly Quoted in Daily Journal, The Recorder and Law360 on Landmark California Privacy Legislation

Privacy and Data Security Leader was quoted in Daily Journal, The Recorder and Law360 discussing California SB 690, which Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law to narrow a growing category of privacy litigation brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).

Reilly played a central role in the legislative effort surrounding SB 690, including before the California Senate Public Safety Committee and of amendments aimed at addressing abusive website-tracking litigation while preserving important consumer privacy protections.

The new law makes the California attorney general the sole enforcer of online pen register claims involving websites, apps and digital tracking technologies, while preserving private rights of action under other sections of CIPA. The measure also applies retroactively to pending claims brought under that provision in actions commenced on or after January 1, 2025.

In all three articles, Reilly highlighted the law's significance as lawmakers, businesses and privacy advocates continue to grapple with how a decades-old statute should apply to modern online technologies. Speaking with The Recorder, Reilly called SB 690 “a really good step in the right direction,” noting that the measure addresses litigation that has placed significant pressure on businesses, particularly smaller organizations.

In Law360, Reilly explained that eliminating the private right of action for claims under Section 638.51 will help reduce a category of litigation that plaintiffs' attorneys have viewed as easier to advance past early motions. At the same time, he emphasized that businesses should not view the new law as ending website privacy litigation altogether, noting that claims may continue under other provisions of CIPA, federal wiretap laws and related legal theories.

Similarly, Reilly emphasized in Daily Journal that the law does not represent a sweeping rollback of California privacy enforcement, explaining: “It is not removing the private right of action from the California Invasion of Privacy Act writ large. There are other sections of CIPA that will continue to have a private right of action and that we expect will continue to be the subject of weaponized privacy litigation.”

Reilly also told Law360 that SB 690 reflects lawmakers' efforts to modernize the application of CIPA to evolving technologies while maintaining robust privacy safeguards, calling the legislation “a really great step forward in the right direction.”

Subscribers can read the full Daily Journal article , The Recorder article and Law360 article .