California Consumer Privacy Act – Does This Apply To You?
As of July 1st of this year, a new privacy act has gone into effect.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) regulates how companies handle personal information specifically, personal information from anyone in California.
Under this privacy act, residents of California have the following rights:
- California consumers can demand to see any and all personal information companies have about them
- California consumers have the right to see a list of third parties these companies have shared information with
In addition, California residents can sue companies if the privacy regulations are violated.
This may seem straightforward …. a California Privacy Act for California residents.
Your dealership may be on the opposite coast but that does not mean you shouldn’t take precautions!
Companies located outside of California may still fall under this law; they don’t even have to be based in the United States.
All companies that serve California residents and have at least 25$ million in annual revenue must comply with the CCPA.
Not only that but, companies of any size that have personal data on at least 50K people or that collect more than half of their revenues from the sale of personal data, must comply.
Think of it this way …
Your dealership may be located in the NorthEast or Midwest and yet, anyone from anywhere can find it because your dealership has a website.
Someone from California could peruse your inventory, fill out a contact form or sign up for a newsletter.
If you do not provide them the option to opt-out of sharing their personal information, you could be sued anywhere from $100 to $750 per incident!
That adds up fast!
So how do we avoid this from happening?
The CCPA law specifies that companies must have a link at the footer of their website offering consumers the option to opt-out of data sharing.
If the option is not there, consumers have the right to sue.
Still seems a bit jarring?
Sit down with your marketing team and make sure you are compliant today!
