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Recently, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law
Assembly Bill No. 2658 for the purpose of
further studying blockchain's application to Californians. In
doing so, California joins a growing list of
states officially exploring distributed ledger technology.
Specifically, the law requires the Secretary of the Government
Operations Agency to convene a blockchain working group prior to
July 1, 2019. Under the new law, "blockchain" means
"a mathematically secured, chronological and decentralized
ledger or database". In addition to including various
representatives from state government, the working group is
required to include appointees from the technology industry and
non-technology industries, as well as appointees with backgrounds
in law, privacy and consumer protection.
Under the new law, which has a sunset date of January 1, 2022,
the working group is required to evaluate:
the uses of blockchain in state government and California-based
businesses;
the risks, including privacy risks, associated with the use of
blockchain by state government and California-based
businesses;
the benefits associated with the use of blockchain by state
government and California-based businesses;
the legal implications associated with the use of blockchain by
state government and California-based businesses; and
the best practices for enabling blockchain technology to
benefit the State of California, California-based businesses and
California residents.
In doing so, the working group is required to seek "input
from a broad range of stakeholders with a diverse range of
interests affected by state policies governing emerging
technologies, privacy, business, the courts, the legal community,
and state government."
The working group is also tasked with delivering a report to the
California Legislature by January 1, 2020, on the potential uses,
risks and benefits of blockchain technology by state government and
California businesses. Moreover, the report is required to include
recommendations for amending relevant provisions of California law
that may be impacted by the deployment of blockchain
technology.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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