Various international, federal, and state laws and regulations govern the processing of personal information, including the collection, use, retention, transfer, sharing and security of the data we receive from and about our subscribers and other individuals. The regulatory environment for the collection and processing of data relating to individuals, including subscriber and other consumer data, by online service providers, content distributors, advertisers and publishers is unsettled in the United States and internationally. Privacy groups and government bodies, including the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), increasingly have scrutinized issues relating to the use, collection, storage, disclosure, and other processing of data, including data that is associated with personal identities or devices, and we expect such scrutiny to continue to increase. Various federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations limiting, or laws and regulations covering the processing, collection, distribution, use, disclosure, storage, transfer and security of certain types of information. In addition to government regulation, self-regulatory standards and other industry standards may legally or contractually apply to us, be argued to apply to us, or we may elect to comply with such standards or facilitate compliance by content publishers, advertisers, or others with such standards.
For example, in the United States, the CCPA became operative on January 1, 2020. The CCPA requires covered businesses to provide new disclosures to California consumers, and to afford such consumers the ability to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information activities, and receive details about how their personal information is used. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that has increased the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. California voters also approved a modification of the CCPA, the CPRA, which went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CPRA significantly expands the rights granted to consumers under the CCPA. The CCPA and CPRA and other similar state laws may increase our compliance costs and exposure to liability. For example, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah adopted information privacy laws that went into effect in 2023. These laws grant consumers certain rights with respect to their personal information, have notice obligations, and require consent in some circumstances, among other things. While there is no private right of action under these laws, they empower the attorneys general in the various states to enforce the laws. As with the CCPA and the CPRA, these laws may increase our compliance costs and exposure to liability. Other U.S. states have passed or are considering adopting and/or enforcing similar laws and regulations and there remains increased interest at the federal level as well.
Additionally, our use of subscriber data to deliver relevant advertising on our platform places us and our content publishers at risk for claims under a number of other laws, including but not limited to the Video Privacy Protection Act ("VPPA"), and we have been subject to such claims to date related to our practices with subscriber data. In a recent trend, some content publishers have been engaged in litigation over alleged violations of the VPPA relating to activities on online platforms in connection with advertising provided by unrelated third parties, the results of which may impact our business. Further, as an operator of an online service that is used in part by children, we are subject to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"). The FTC rule implementing COPPA (the "COPPA Rule") broadly defines the types of information that are subject to these regulations. The COPPA Rules limit the information that we and, our content publishers and advertisers can collect and use, the content of advertisements and certain channel partner content. We and our content publishers and advertisers could be at risk for violation or alleged violation of these and other laws, regulations, and other standards and contractual obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security. More generally, the FTC and various state regulatory agencies are aggressively investigating and bringing enforcement actions that are focused on companies' collection, use, processing and sharing of consumer data, such as browsing information, for various uses, including but not limited to advertising.
In the EU and its member states, the GDPR imposes stringent obligations relating to data protection and security for processing the personal data of individuals within the European Economic Area ("EEA") or in the context of our activities within the EEA. Further, the departure of the United Kingdom ("UK") from the EU has created a separate regime with similarly onerous obligations under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively, the "UK GDPR"). The GDPR and UK GDPR each authorize regulators to impose sanctions, including changes to data processing, and each allow for fines of up to 4% of the global annual revenue or €20 million (£17.5 million) of a noncompliant undertaking, whichever is greater, for certain violations. In addition to fines, a breach of the GDPR or UK GDPR may result in regulatory investigations, reputational damage, orders to cease/ change our data processing activities, enforcement notices, assessment notices (for a compulsory audit) and/ or civil claims (including class actions).
Additionally, we may incur expenses, costs, and other operational losses under the GDPR, UK GDPR and the privacy laws of applicable EU Member States in connection with any measures we take to comply with such laws.
Although certain legal mechanisms have been designed to allow for the transfer of personal data from the UK, EEA and Switzerland to the United States, uncertainty about compliance with such data protection laws remains and such mechanisms may not be available or applicable with respect to the personal data processing activities necessary to research, develop and market our products. We expect the existing legal complexity and uncertainty regarding international personal data transfers to continue. As a result, we may have to make certain operational changes and we may have to implement revised standard contractual clauses and other relevant documentation for existing data transfers within required time frames.
We are also subject to evolving EU and UK privacy laws on cookies, tracking technologies and e-marketing In the EEA and the UK, under national laws derived from the ePrivacy Directive, informed consent is required for the placement of a cookie or similar technologies on a user's device and for direct electronic marketing. The GDPR also imposes conditions on obtaining valid consent for cookies, such as a prohibition on pre-checked consents and a requirement to ensure separate consents are sought for each type of cookie or similar technology. In addition, European court decisions and regulatory guidance are driving increased attention to cookies and tracking technologies. If the trend of increasing enforcement by regulators of the strict approach to opt-in consent for all but essential use cases, as seen in recent guidance and decisions continues, this could lead to substantial costs, require significant systems changes, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, adversely affect our margins, and subject us to additional liabilities.
Complying with the GDPR / UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, VCDPA, VPPA and other laws, regulations, and other obligations relating to privacy, consumer protection, data protection, data localization or security may cause us to incur substantial operational costs or require us to modify our data handling practices. We also expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws and regulations concerning privacy, data protection and information security, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards, or amendments to, expansions of or re-interpretations of, existing laws and regulations, industry standards, or other obligations may have on our business. New laws and regulations, amendments to, expansions of or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations, industry standards, and contractual and other obligations may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. Additionally, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, and policies that are applicable to the businesses of content publishers and advertisers may limit their use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our platform and advertising on our platform, and content publishers and advertisers may be at risk for violation or alleged violation of laws, regulations, and other standards relating to privacy, data protection, and information security relating to their activities on our platform. More generally, privacy, data protection, and information security concerns, whether or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our platform, particularly in certain countries.
Furthermore, the interpretation and application of laws, regulations, standards, contractual obligations and other obligations relating to privacy, data processing and protection, and information security are uncertain, and these laws, standards, and contractual and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is, or is alleged to be, inconsistent with our data management and processing practices, our policies or procedures, or the features of our platform. We may face regulatory investigations, litigation, claims or allegations that we are in violation of these laws, regulations, standards, or contractual or other obligations. We could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our platform or practices to address laws, regulations, or other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, or information security, or claims or allegations that we have failed to comply with any of the foregoing, which could have an adverse effect on our business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to develop new features could be limited.
Any actual or perceived inability to adequately address privacy, consumer protection, data protection or security-related concerns, even if unfounded, or to successfully negotiate privacy, consumer protection, data protection or security-related contractual terms with content publishers, card associations, advertisers, or others, or to comply with applicable laws, regulations and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and security, could result in additional cost and liability to us.