Californians Need Stronger Personal Data Protections

As Donald Trump has assumed the presidency for a second time, now with both Congress and the Supreme Court in tow, we are seeing a slew of new threats to California’s core values, even as we brace for more. We know from the president’s Project 2025 blueprint for the coming year that he plans to continue making attacks on immigrants, communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities, and women a core pillar of his attacks on our rights and freedoms.

Compounding these attacks is the risk of Californians’ private data getting into the wrong hands that escalates day by day. There’s not only the immediate horror of Elon Musk and his young minions rampaging through Americans’ personal information, which prompted the top Social Security official to resign last weekend. More broadly, our data is at increased risk of misuse as “AI-powered surveillance is growing, enabling the easy automation of mass surveillance, high-tech profiling, and biased policing,” according to the ACLU of Northern California.

Thankfully, there are actions state leaders can take now to blunt the threat of mass surveillance and criminalization of people who live, work, or travel to our state. I spent years working to protect Californians’ rights to privacy as a California legislator, so I know there’s more that Governor Newsom and the Legislature can do — and should do, especially given high levels of bipartisan public support for taking action.

First and foremost, California lawmakers should address the ease with which out-of-state law enforcement can currently circumvent the need for a warrant by buying our personal data, like location info, from private brokers. A recent survey finds that three in four Californians, including six in 10 Republicans, support the idea of California lawmakers taking action to protect individuals’ personal data, including private medical data, from use in out-of-state prosecution.

Fears that this kind of data could be weaponized to inflict harm on immigrants, communities of color, and individuals receiving reproductive medical care are well-justified. Texas’s Attorney General has already tried to demand private data about individuals who have traveled to California to receive medical care that is legal in our state, which has long been a leader in the fight for women’s reproductive rights and access to health care. He has also sought damages against a New York doctor for legally providing medication in New York to a patient in Texas.

Overall, Californians support state action to limit the use and spread of our data by brokers and out-of-state actors broadly, by a 28-point margin. Since the 2024 election, it’s been encouraging to see civic organizations and human rights groups channel this public support by emphasizing the urgency of taking action now to protect our private data from being exploited by those who seek to undermine our rights and privacy and thus our freedom. 

In addition to executive actions that Governor Newsom can and should take immediately, our legislature has the chance to adopt a number of commonsense amendments to strengthen existing privacy laws, further protecting the flow of Californians’ data from landing in the hands of unscrupulous actors.

I’m proud to have blocked efforts in the past to weaken the California Consumer Privacy Act, our nation’s strongest internet privacy protection law. Now, our state has the opportunity to make those protections even stronger by adopting data minimization principles like banning companies from collecting sensitive data such as user location, browser history, and health metrics, unless they’re directly necessary to provide a requested service.

As marginalized communities in our state and around the country brace for impact during this second Trump era, we should reassure them that state leaders here in California are hard at work to provide a safe haven for those whose rights and privacy are unfortunately being targeted by the incoming Trump administration.

These actions can acknowledge and honor the California spirit of community we all feel as we start rebuilding in L.A. after January’s horrific fires. Here in California, we stand up for our values, we stand up for our neighbors, and we confront bullies who seek to undermine our rights and our freedoms.

Hannah-Beth Jackson, Santa Barbara’s California State Senator and Assemblymember for 14 years, is currently engaged in public-policy and strategic consulting. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Independent.