There are numerous state, federal and foreign laws, regulations, decisions and directives regarding privacy and the collection, storage, transmission, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal information and other data, the scope of which is continually evolving and subject to differing interpretations. Our worldwide operations mean that we are subject to privacy, cybersecurity and data protection laws and regulations in many jurisdictions to varying degrees, and that some of the data we process, store and transmit may be transmitted across countries. For example, in the U.S., privacy and security rules implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") require us as a business associate, in certain instances, to protect the confidentiality of patient health information, and the Federal Trade Commission has consumer protection authority, including with regard to privacy and cybersecurity. In Europe, the GDPR imposes several stringent requirements for controllers and processors of personal data that impose substantial obligations and, in the event of violations, may impose significant fines of up to the greater of 4% of worldwide annual revenue or €20 million. In the UK, the Data Protection Act of 2018 and the UK GDPR collectively implement material provisions of the GDPR and provide for penalties for noncompliance of up to the greater of £17.5 million or four percent of worldwide revenues.
Data transfer and localization requirements also appear to be increasing and becoming more complex. With regard to transfers to the U.S. of personal data from our employees and European customers and users, both the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and standard contractual clauses issued by the European Commission (the "EU SCCs") have been subject to legal challenge. In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") released a decision in the Schrems II case (Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland, Schrems) (the "CJEU Decision"), declaring the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield invalid and imposing additional obligations in connection with the use of the EU SCCs, another mechanism for cross-border personal data transfers from the European Economic Area ("EEA"). Although the EU SCCs remain a valid means to transfer personal data from the EEA, the CJEU imposed additional obligations in connection with their use and, on June 4, 2021, the European Commission issued revised EU SCCs that address certain concerns of the CJEU. The United Kingdom also has issued new standard contractual clauses (the "UK SCCs") that became effective March 21, 2022, and which are required to be implemented. In March 2022, the EU and U.S. reached an agreement in principle on a new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework ("DPF"). In October 2022, the U.S. issued an executive order in furtherance of the DPF, on which basis the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision with respect to the DPF in July 2023, allowing its implementation and availability for companies to use to legitimize transfers of personal data from the E.U. to the U.S. It remains unclear, however, whether this new framework will be appropriate for us to rely upon. The DPF has already faced a legal challenge and it may be subject to additional challenges. Additionally, the European Commission's adequacy decision regarding the DPF provides that the DPF will be subject to future reviews and may be subject to suspension, amendment, repeal, or limitations to its scope by the European Commission. The CJEU Decision, the revised EU SCCs and UK SCCs, regulatory guidance and opinions, and other developments relating to cross-border data transfer may require us to implement additional contractual and technical safeguards for any personal data transferred out of the EEA, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, which may increase compliance costs, lead to increased regulatory scrutiny or liability, may require additional contractual negotiations, and may adversely impact our business, financial condition and operating results.
Other jurisdictions have adopted laws and regulations addressing privacy, data protection, data security, or other aspects of data processing, such as data localization. For example, the People's Republic of China ("PRC") and Russia have passed laws that require individually identifiable data on their citizens to be maintained on local servers and that may restrict transfer or processing of that data if certain data quantity thresholds are triggered. Additionally, the Personal Information Protection Law ("PIPL") of the PRC went into effect on November 1, 2021. The PIPL shares similarities with the GDPR, including extraterritorial application, data minimization, data localization, and purpose limitation requirements, and obligations to provide certain notices and rights to citizens of the PRC. The PIPL allows for fines of up to 50 million Renminbi or 5% of a covered company's revenue in the prior year. We may be required to modify our policies, procedures, and data processing measures in order to address requirements under these or other privacy, data protection, or cybersecurity regimes, and may face claims, litigation, investigations, or other proceedings regarding them and may incur related liabilities, expenses, costs, and operational losses.
Further, the current U.S. administration is engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of national security concerns and other risks relating to the transfer of personally identifiable information from the United States to China, and on June 9, 2021, U.S. President Biden signed an executive order instituting a framework for determining national security risks of transactions that involve applications connected to governments or militaries of certain foreign adversaries or that collect sensitive personal data from U.S. consumers. In 2019, an executive order citing national security risks in the telecommunications sector served to block U.S. companies from buying Chinese-made Huawei and ZTE products. If our operations, including those involving the processing of U.S.-collected data such as medical imagery, through the JV in China, come to be perceived as a U.S. national security risk, those operations may become subject to executive orders, sanctions, or other measures. Any ban or other restriction on our transfer of data to the JV in China may increase costs as we seek operational and data processing alternatives.
New and proposed privacy, cybersecurity, and data protection laws are also providing new rights to individuals and increasing the penalties associated with non-compliance. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA"), which became effective on January 1, 2020, imposes stringent data privacy and data protection requirements regarding the personal information of California residents, and provides for penalties for noncompliance of up to $7,500 per violation, as well as a private right of action from individuals in relation to certain security breaches.
The California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"), approved by California voters in November 2020, became effective on January 1, 2023. The CPRA, significantly modified the CCPA, has resulted in further uncertainty and may require us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. We will continue to monitor developments related to the CPRA and anticipate additional costs and expenses associated with CPRA compliance. The enactment of the CCPA, as modified by the CPRA, is prompting a wave of similar legislative developments in other states in the U.S., which could potentially create a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws. For example, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut all have enacted state laws that became effective in 2023; Texas, Montana, Oregon, and Florida have adopted laws that have become effective in 2024, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Tennessee have adopted laws that will become effective in 2025; and Indiana Kentucky, and Rhode Island have adopted laws that will become effective in 2026. These new state laws share similarities with the CCPA, CPRA, and legislation proposed in other states. Other states have enacted other types of privacy legislation, such as Washington's My Health, My Data Act, which includes a private right of action. Additionally, the U.S. federal government is contemplating privacy legislation. We cannot fully predict the impact of the CCPA, CPRA, or other new or proposed legislation on our business or operations, but the restrictions imposed by these laws and regulations may require us to modify our data handling practices and impose additional costs and burdens, including risks of regulatory fines, litigation and associated reputational harm. In addition, U.S. and international laws that have been applied to protect consumer privacy (including laws regarding unfair and deceptive practices in the U.S. and GDPR in the EU) may be subject to evolving interpretations or applications in light of privacy developments. As a result, we may be subject to significant consequences, including penalties and fines, for any failure to comply with such laws, regulations and directives.
Privacy, cybersecurity and data protection legislation around the world is comprehensive and complex and there has been a trend towards more stringent enforcement of requirements regarding protection and confidentiality of personal data. The restrictions imposed by such laws and regulations may limit the use and adoption of our products and services, reduce overall demand for our products and services, require us to modify our data handling practices and impose additional costs and burdens. With increasing enforcement of privacy, cybersecurity and data protection laws and regulations, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to investigation, enforcement actions or other proceedings by governmental bodies or that our costs relating to privacy, data protection or cybersecurity laws and regulations will not increase significantly. Enforcement actions, investigations and other proceedings can be costly, require significant time and attention of management and other personnel and interrupt regular operations of our business. In addition, there has been a developing trend of civil lawsuits and class actions relating to breaches of consumer data held by large companies. While we have not been named in any such suits, we may be in the future, including if we were to suffer a security breach or incident. Any inability to adequately address concerns relating to privacy, data protection or cybersecurity, even if unfounded, or to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies, industry standards, contractual obligations or other legal obligations could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business. Our actual or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could result in investigation, enforcement actions or other proceedings against us, including fines and public censure, claims for damages by customers and other affected individuals, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill (both in relation to existing customers and prospective customers), any of which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.