The California AG announced an investigative sweep of mobile apps, as we reported in our sister blog. The investigative focus is on companies in the retail, travel and food service industries who may not be complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). As we have written previously, the California law requires entities to provide individuals with a myriad of rights, including as it relates to “sale” of personal information.

The focus of the current sweep should be of interest to entities trying to understand the AG’s focus this year. In particular, the AG has signaled his concern that these entities are either not respecting opt-out requests or pare not giving consumers the ability to opt out of the sale of their information. The Attorney General is especially looking at opt-out requests sent by third party vendors like Permission Slip.

Putting it into Practice: This is not the first year that California has begun the year with CCPA-related privacy sweep. While last year’s focus was on loyalty programs, this year companies subject to CCPA should keep in mind that the law applies beyond information collection on websites. The AG has signaled its concern in this recent sweep on mobile app compliance with CCPA.