Right to Know Act (AB 1291)

The California Right to Know Act (AB 1291- Lowenthal) was a bill to modernize current privacy law and give Californians an effective tool to monitor how personal information, including about health, finances, your location, politics, religious, sexual orientation, buying habits, and more, is being collected and disclosed in unexpected and potentially harmful ways.

Did you know?

• Websites incorporate up to 100 tracking tools that collect personal information about visitors like age, gender, race, income, health concerns and recent purchases for advertising and marketing companies.
• Many mobile apps share location, age, gender, phone numbers, and other personal details of both adults and children with third party companies. Women and children have been hurt or killed when location data was shared with abusers.
• Facebook apps used by a consumer’s “friend” can often access sensitive information about that consumer, including religious, political, and sexual preferences. 
• Companies that collect information about consumer activities have exposed sensitive personal information. Target revealed that a woman was pregnant and Facebook outed the sexual orientation of a college student before they told their families.
• Data brokers are engaged in the widespread buying, selling, and trading of personal information obtained from mobile phones, banks, social media sites, and stores. Americans have lost jobs and been denied mortgages when data brokers shared incorrect information and scammers use data broker lists to target vulnerable populations like seniors.

The California Right to Know Act was authored by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), co-sponsored by the ACLU of California and supported by a diverse coalition of organizations that work every day to safeguard the privacy, personal safety, and financial security of Californians and their families.