The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018

California has enacted a law that, similar to the EU’s GDPR, provides consumers greater control over how their personal data is collected and processed.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which takes full effect in 2020, will limit how big companies collect and use personal data. Companies will be required to disclose the types of data they collect about consumers and with whom they share that information, and let consumers opt-out of having their data sold. If a consumer opts-out of having data sold, they cannot be treated differently under the new law. Any data collected must be stringently secured or fines will result.

Large companies, such as those with data on more than 50,000 people, would be required starting in 2020 to let consumers view the data they have collected on them, request deletion of data, and opt out of having the data sold to third parties. Companies must provide equal service to consumers who exercise such rights under the law.

For more information, please see the below articles:

• CNET – California’s New Data Privacy Law the Toughest in the US
• Frankfurt Kurnit Klein+Selz – New California Privacy Law Calls for Significant Changes
• Mercury News – What California’s New Data Privacy Law Means to You
• Reuters – California Lawmakers Approve Data-Privacy