The privacy policy of your company’s website will need to be compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
The privacy policy of your company’s website will need to be compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
If you have already complied with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you will need less effort because some of the CCPA’s obligations are similar to the GDPR.
Nonetheless, you will still need to make several vital improvements to make your privacy policy fully compliant with the CCPA.
The core components of a CCPA-compliant privacy policy include:
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The CCPA requires your business to have a noticeable link to your privacy policy on the homepage of your website
In this case, most businesses prefer to have a link at the website’s footer since it is the customary location of a company’s legal policies. Learn how to add a Privacy Policy button on a website.
Under the CCPA, you will be required to keep your privacy policy updated every 12 months.
To guarantee your privacy policy is compliant with the CCPA, you will require a mechanism through which you can monitor the updates made to the regulation.
Apart from updating your privacy policy every year, you will need to display the last date the policy was updated clearly for users to see. In this context, you may be required to add a short overview outlining the changes made in the most recent update.
Unlike the GDPR, to have a CCPA-compliant privacy policy, you need a clear and noticeable link labeled ‘Do Not Sell My Personal Information.’
You must display this link not only in the privacy policy but also at the footer of the website’s homepage. The aim of having this link is to allow consumers to opt-out of having their personal data sold by companies.
However, if you do not specialize in selling personal data, your business is exempted from meeting this obligation.
According to the CCPA, you must reveal a list of all the categories of personal information that your business has gathered in the previous 12 months from any source.
This requirement is connected to the obligation of updating your privacy policy every 12 months. Primarily, when you update your privacy policy, you are required to disclose the categories of personal information that your business collected in the previous year.
Under the CCPA, the types of personal data you must reveal include;
Once you provide the classes of personal information you have gathered in the past year, you must also disclose the sources of every category of data. Examples of sources of information include;
It is important to be detailed and specific when revealing the sources of the personal information you collect.
For your privacy policy to be CCPA-compliant, you must let your consumers know why you collect the kind of information you collect. Here, you should provide a clear explanation of what you use this data for.
Some of the reasons why businesses collect information include;
The CCPA requires you to list the categories of user information that have been shared of business reasons in the previous year.
Section 1798.140 of the CCPA clarifies activities that are considered ‘business purposes.’ They include;
If you have not shared information for a business objective, you must make a declaration to this effect on your privacy policy.
Furthermore, you must declare if you disclosed consumer information to a third-party, which is then disclosed for business purposes on your behalf. Check out Secure Privacy's Ultimate CCPA Guide.
The CCPA requires you to declare the classes of personal information that you have sold in the previous 12 months. You need to update this disclosure in your annual privacy policy updates.
In case your business does not sell personal information, this should also be clear on your privacy policy.
California’s data privacy law establishes an opt-in obligation for children between the age of 13 and 16 years old. Minors in this age group must opt-in to the sale of their personal data.
Moreover, the CCPA requires your business to get the consent of a parent or a guardian before selling the information of a minor aged below 13 years.
If your target market involves children, this requirement is extremely, crucial although it applies to any enterprise that has actual knowledge of the minor’s age.
Your privacy policy must contain the consumer rights established under the CCPA. Essentially, consumers are entitled to;
It is not adequate to outline the rights consumers are entitled to under the CCPA. Instead, your privacy policy must inform them how to access their personal data.
Additionally, ensure to make your users aware that you will address their request within 45 days because this is a requirement under the CCPA.
You must make available two or more designated methods for the consumer to request this information, including, at a minimum, a toll-free telephone number and a website address.
However, if your business operates online exclusively and has a direct relationship with a consumer, you are only required to provide an email address for submitting requests.
Ensure that your policy advises users of their right to delete their personal information and explain how the user is able to make this request.
You need to provide a way through which consumers can exercise this right.
The CCPA makes it clear that the consumers must not be subjected to prejudice for exercising their privileges under the law.
For this reason, you need to ensure that you inform users that they will not be discriminated against for exercising their rights under the CCPA.
The CCPA requires businesses to adopt transparency about data collection and sharing. To ensure your privacy policy is CCPA compliant, you will need to add clauses specific to the aforementioned rights.
Secure Privacy saves you the hassle of coming up with your company’s privacy policy. Our solution gives you a privacy policy generator with which you customize your privacy notice to meet the requirements of the CCPA.
Schedule a call with us today and get expert guidance on our solution and how we can support your CCPA compliance journey.
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Read more on the subject:
- The Ultimate Guide on How to Prepare for CCPA Compliance
- Revised CCPA Proposed Regulations 2020: The Key Changes
- Final CCPA Proposed Regulations: The Ultimate Guide
- CCPA vs. GDPR: What Businesses Need to Know
- CCPA Amendments: Key Changes You Need to Know
