A seasoned small business and technology writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Shweta excels in demystifying complex tech tools and concepts for small businesses. Her work has been featured in NewsWeek, Huffington Post and more.
Shweta Small Business WriterA seasoned small business and technology writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Shweta excels in demystifying complex tech tools and concepts for small businesses. Her work has been featured in NewsWeek, Huffington Post and more.
Written By Shweta Small Business WriterA seasoned small business and technology writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Shweta excels in demystifying complex tech tools and concepts for small businesses. Her work has been featured in NewsWeek, Huffington Post and more.
Shweta Small Business WriterA seasoned small business and technology writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Shweta excels in demystifying complex tech tools and concepts for small businesses. Her work has been featured in NewsWeek, Huffington Post and more.
Small Business Writer Jane Haskins, J.D. ContributorJane Haskins practiced law for 20 years, representing small businesses in startup, dissolution, business transactions and litigation. She has written hundreds of articles on legal, intellectual property and tax issues affecting small businesses.
Jane Haskins, J.D. ContributorJane Haskins practiced law for 20 years, representing small businesses in startup, dissolution, business transactions and litigation. She has written hundreds of articles on legal, intellectual property and tax issues affecting small businesses.
Written By Jane Haskins, J.D. ContributorJane Haskins practiced law for 20 years, representing small businesses in startup, dissolution, business transactions and litigation. She has written hundreds of articles on legal, intellectual property and tax issues affecting small businesses.
Jane Haskins, J.D. ContributorJane Haskins practiced law for 20 years, representing small businesses in startup, dissolution, business transactions and litigation. She has written hundreds of articles on legal, intellectual property and tax issues affecting small businesses.
Contributor Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Updated: Aug 23, 2022, 11:17pm
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Getty
The CCPA is a privacy law enacted in 2018 by the state of California to regulate the way businesses all over the world can collect, use and share the personal information of California residents. Irrespective of where you are located or operate, if you have consumers in California, you must know about the CCPA and comply with it if required.
In this article, we will discuss the nuances of the CCPA and whether it applies to you or not. And if it applies, we’ll describe some steps you can take to stay in compliance.
CCPA stands for the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. It has been effective from January 1, 2020 and is the first law of its kind in the United States.
The CCPA protects the residents of California against third-party sales or disclosure of their personal information. The CCPA provides these privacy rights to California consumers:
According to the CCPA, personal information is defined as any information that can identify, describe, relate to or be linked with a consumer or their household in a way that a profile about their preferences and characteristics can be built.
Examples of personal information include:
If you are a for-profit organization that does business in California and meets any of the following three criteria, you must comply with the CCPA:
CCPA noncompliance incurs financial penalties.
The California attorney general is authorized to bring about an injunction or a civil action suit against any entity violating the CCPA. If the violation is intentional, the penalty can be $7,500, or $2,500 in the case of an unintentional violation.
If any consumer’s unencrypted sensitive personal information has been subject to data breach, they can file a civil action suit against your company. The consumer can sue for their actual damages or for statutory damages of between $100 and $750 per consumer per incident. Those penalties can multiply quickly if there’s a data breach involving thousands of consumers.
Here are a few suggestions for maintaining CCPA compliance:
If you cater to a good number of California consumers, you must be aware of the rules under the CCPA and keep checking whether you are required to comply with them. It is advisable to comply with the laws and be prepared rather than face penalties later.
No, the CCPA does not apply to all companies in California. Only those that meet any of the three criteria laid down in the CCPA must comply with the law.
In the case of the California attorney general filing a civil lawsuit against a company, the penalty for intentional CCPA noncompliance is $7,500 whereas an unintentional noncompliance is $2,500. If an individual files a lawsuit, statutory damages are anywhere between $100 and $750 per consumer per incident.
Personal information and personal data are interchangeable in regard to the CCPA, so what qualifies as personal data under the GDPR is the same as personal information under the CCPA. This includes name, home and work addresses, all personal telephone numbers, email address, passport number, ID number (such as a driver’s license number), Social Security number, medical information and more.
Was this article helpful? Share your feedback Send feedback to the editorial team Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Buying Guides
By AJ Dellinger
By Evan Tarver
By Juliana Kenny
By Leeron Hoory
By Leeron Hoory
By Jacqueline Nguyen, Esq.
Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
Small Business WriterA seasoned small business and technology writer and educator with more than 20 years of experience, Shweta excels in demystifying complex tech tools and concepts for small businesses. Her work has been featured in NewsWeek, Huffington Post and more. Her postgraduate degree in computer management fuels her comprehensive analysis and exploration of tech topics.
ContributorJane Haskins practiced law for 20 years, representing small businesses in startup, dissolution, business transactions and litigation. She has written hundreds of articles on legal, intellectual property and tax issues affecting small businesses.
© 2024 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Are you sure you want to rest your choices?The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles; these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for.
