Bill > AB2021

This bill, an amendment to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), establishes a whistleblower program to encourage reporting of violations of the CCPA. It allows individuals, defined as "whistleblowers," to submit complaints with "original information" (information derived from their own knowledge or analysis, not already known to the California Privacy Protection Agency, and not solely from public sources unless they are the original source) to the California Privacy Protection Agency (the "agency"). If the agency pursues an enforcement action based on such a complaint, the whistleblower can receive an award of 15% to 33% of the collected fines or settlement proceeds, after a portion is allocated to a grant fund. The bill also allows the agency to assess penalties to cover the whistleblower's attorney fees. A new "Consumer Privacy Whistleblower Subfund" will be created to hold these awards and attorney fees. To be eligible for an award, whistleblowers must be represented by an attorney and attest to the truthfulness of their complaint, though anonymous complaints are permitted if the attorney certifies certain verification steps. The whistleblower's identity will be kept confidential, protected from public records requests, unless disclosure is necessary for an investigation. Furthermore, the bill provides legal protections for employees, contractors, or agents who face retaliation for reporting violations or assisting in enforcement actions, allowing them to sue for damages, reinstatement, back pay, and attorney fees.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2021