California has recently enacted a new privacy law. This law will set the tone as the toughest-ever U.S. privacy decree. While hastily signed into law in June, the sweeping policy will affect hundreds of thousands of U.S. businesses when it takes effect Jan. 1, 2020.
Other states are considering enacting similar legislation to protect their citizens privacy. Meanwhile California residents will gain new privacy rights; the ability to see what personal info is collected and with whom it is shared, plus the option to request data deletion. Firms will be required to comply with requests or face steep fines. Customers can also opt out of data sharing, which will prevent sharing or selling of their data and hinder free web services that rely on advertising.
Many businesses cannot afford to ignore California and its huge economy, the fifth-largest in the world. So they will comply
Businesses will have to figure out if the California law applies to their practices. If your business collects personal info from California residents, including real names, postal addresses, e-mails, biometric data, web browsing history, employment info and shopping history, it’s potentially affected.
Companies must comply if they have more than $25 million in yearly sales or obtain data on at least 50,000 California consumers per year, among other standards. But expect the requirements to lessen as the law remains in effect to protect citizens from smaller companies in the future.