On August 24, 2022, California’s attorney general announced a settlement of $1.2 million with Sephora, as a result of California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) violations. Search the Internet for the term “Facebook privacy lawsuits” and see how many results are returned. Not only are the number of results surprising, but the amount of money required to settle fines and lawsuits is also astonishing. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to leave out the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which as of October 2022 has levied 1280 fines for a total of €2,077,447,541.
While the data may not be surprising to some, the trends cannot be ignored. The number of privacy-related fines, settlements and violations continues to rise, as well as the number of national and global privacy laws and regulations that companies are required to comply with. The trends clearly demonstrate that while not a new concept, privacy continues to gain traction.