Privacy laws are always changing, and in fact, it is getting stricter in recent times. California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has now joined other policies such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to the act, data breaches will have serious liabilities for those companies that hold sensitive consumer information or any other confidential information.
In this article at Security Today, Richard Kanadjian explains the effects of California’s Consumer Privacy Act on businesses.
Highlights of the Act
What is ‘Personal Information’ According to the Act?
Personal information is any information that relates to or capable of being associated with a particular household, device, or consumer. Personal information includes email addresses, mail addresses, IP addresses, and even consumer names.
Entities Included in the CCPA
The CCPA applies to any profitable entity that:
- Gathers personal and confidential information about California residents
- Does business in California
- Determines on its own or jointly with others the purpose and means of processing that information
How Does CCPA Affect Businesses?
Created to enhance the privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California, CCPA will undoubtedly have a significant impact on most businesses. The attorney general will penalize a company under this act when there is ‘unauthorized access and exfiltration, theft, or disclosure as a result of the business’ violation of the duty to implement and maintain security procedures and practices.’
This law will affect your business, if:
- Your company earns more than half its annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal data
- Your business possess the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, devices or households,
- Your organization’s gross revenue is over $25 million
“Companies that do not comply with CCPA are subject to both civil class action lawsuits in the state of California and can be assessed with damages of $100 to $750 per California resident and incident, or actual damages, whichever is greater,” says Richard.
To know more about CCPA and ways to secure your organization, click on https://securitytoday.com/Articles/2020/02/24/Californias-Consumer-Privacy-Act-CCPA-Affects-How-Companies-Will-Store-Data-Nationwide.aspx?admgarea=ht.businesscontinuity&Page=2.
