What You Need to Know About the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Here’s an overview of what is discussed in this article:

• General Overview of the CCPA
• Summary of the CCPA
• What it means to you as a business owner
• What it means to you as a consumer

Remember back in history class when....

Our teachers told us that we, as Americans, have a Right of Privacy thanks to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution?! Now remember that right as you think about the amount of personal data you have online. We often trust businesses with that information every time we shop with them. Think about how many times you’ve entered your name, address, phone number, ect., online while shopping. We expect that information to be secure, right? Well unfortunately certain business engage in the sale of that data to other businesses or entities, which can then be used to target you for certain marketing campaigns or other purposes. Let’s be real... we’ve all received something in the mail from a company we’ve never bought anything from...AM I RIGHT?!

The CCPA or California Consumer Privacy Act is designed to help us take back a little bit of control of that information. This Act goes into effect January 1^st, 2020 and if you’re a California resident or a company doing business in California this post is for you!

A Little Info On the CCPA

The recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act follows the lead of the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) that went into effect May 2018 in the European Union. The CCPA was signed into law in June 2018 and goes into effect January 1^st, 2020. Essentially, it creates new consumer rights of access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses. The California Legislature found that an individual’s ability to control the use and sale of their personal information was fundamental to the “inalienable” right of privacy set forth in the California (and Federal) Constitution.

The CCPA lays out four major rights for consumers and has specific guidelines on who and the type of business it applies to.

Most important, I believe the CCPA, as the first big online privacy law in the United States, will act as a trend and more states will follow suit in the protection of their resident’s personal data online.

What This Means For Business Owners

Good news is this affects a VERY small and specific portion of businesses, mainly those larger corporations doing business in California:

• You have to be doing business in California;
• Have a gross annual revenue in excess of $25 million;
• Buy, sell, or receive the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices; or
• Derive 50 percent or more of your annual income from selling consumers’ personal information.

If you do meet these requirements I highly suggest you check out the resources from the Office of the Attorney General of California to get going on your compliance with the terms of the new Act!

What This Means For Consumers

If you’re a California RESIDENT, here’s what you get from the CCPA:

A. The Right to Know –

This provides consumers the ability to request that a business disclose:

• Specific pieces of personal information the business has collected about the consumer.
• Categories of personal information it has collected or sold about that consumer.
• The purpose for which it collected or sold the categories of personal information and
• Categories of third parties to whom it sold the personal information

B. The Right to Deletion-

Provides customers the ability to request the deletion of personal information from businesses that have collected it from the customer. Businesses:

• Do not need to verify your identity before deleting
• Must delete your personal information from its records and also direct any service providers to do so within 45 days of receiving the request
• Must inform the consumer why and what rights it has to appeal the decision to not delete their information.

C. The Right to Opt-Out-Of Sale-

This right provides consumers the ability to direct businesses not to sell their personal information.

• Businesses do not need to verify identity before opting out
• Minor consumer’s information can NOT be sold without the consent of a parent or guardian.

D. The Right to Non-Discrimination-

Prohibits a business from discriminating against a consumer because they have exercised any of their rights under the CCPA.

• Businesses cannot charge different prices, deny goods or services, or a different level of quality or service to these customers.

The important thing to remember if you are a California Resident is that when you want to exercise any of these rights, the businesses will provide you a phone number and a website so you can easily make that request (No more rooting around! Woo!). And, the business is required to comply with your request within 45 days of you making it!

For more information about the CCPA please visit:

The Office of the Attorney General of California Website

NOPA - CCPA PDF

Check out TLP's Legally Growing Your Email List Guide HERE!