Lawyer Monthly Magazine - August 2019 Edition

Californian Data Privacy What ‘s Changing and What Do You Need to Know? With data privacy still being a relatively new area of law, we speak to expert Anthony Stewart, who shares what you should do if your company has been victim to a breach, and the changes in privacy laws which could impact you. California legislators enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018; can you share what had changed? A little more than one month after the GDPR went into effect, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which is considered to be themost comprehensive data privacy law in the United States. The CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020, and enforcement is slated to begin no later than July 1, 2020. The CCPA was drafted, passed, and signed quickly to prevent California voters from facing a similar, yet more restrictive, ballot initiative in the upcoming election. The CCPA broadly expands the rights of California consumers and requires covered businesses to be significantly more transparent about how they collect, use, sell, anddisclose personal information. The CCPA requires covered businesses to make certain disclosures in their privacy policies, or otherwise at the time the company collects a consumer’s personal data. Specifically, a covered business will be required to notify consumers of their rights under the CCPA, the categories of personal information the business collects, the purposes for which that personal information is collected, and the categories of personal information that the business sold or disclosed during the preceding 12 months. The CCPA also requires businesses to notify consumers if they sell consumer data to third parties and provide consumers with the ability to opt-out of the sale by supplying a link titled “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” on the business’s home page. Under the CCPA, consumers have the right to request certain information regarding the processing of their personal information from covered businesses. It also requires businesses to provide at least two means for consumers to submit requests for disclosure including, at a minimum, a toll-free telephone number and a website. Disclosures must be made, free of charge, within 45 days of the consumer’s request. Companies, therefore, will need to determine how they can monitor their data sharing practices and timely respond to consumer requests. How did these changes impact your clients? What issues did they face and how did you guide them? The CCPA, as currently written, is not in its final form. The California state legislature is continuing to refine and amend the CCPA before it goes into effect next year. October 13 is the last day for the governor to sign or veto bills that survive both chambers of the state legislature. Additionally, the California Attorney General’s Officehas until July 1, 2020, to issue rules, procedures, and regulations to establish procedures to Super Lawyers By Anthony E. Stewart, Hall Booth Smith, P.C. 68 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | AUG 2019 Contact Anthony E. Stewart Hall Booth Smith, P.C. 191 Peachtree St NE, Ste 2900, Atlanta, GA 30303-1775 Tel: (404) 954-5000 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthonystewartlaw Twitter: @PrivacyLawUSA Hall Booth Smith, P.C. Facebook: facebook.com/HallBoothSmith LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hall-booth-smith-p-c-/ Twitter: @HallBoothSmith Website: hallboothsmith.com