Understanding State Consumer Privacy Laws and CCPA

Understanding CCPA and other state privacy laws is an important step to understanding how you can stay protected online. Data breaches, scams, spam, and cybercrimes can happen to anyone at any time and understand what laws are there to protect can really help you take the steps needed to build a foundation for your personal data privacy.

Takeaway:

• Only 5 states have comprehensive privacy laws in place: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah.
• Big tech companies like Oracle, Amazon, Deloitte, and the three Bureaus spent a total of $29 Million on lobbying against privacy laws.

As concern over data privacy in America has increased in recent years, several states have attempted to pass laws to increase transparency regarding data use, collection, and sale while giving their citizens more power over their privacy.

Currently, only 5 states in the U.S. have successfully passed comprehensive laws to protect their citizens’ data privacy. In contrast, the other 45 have bills that have either failed or are pending approval. 

While there are several possible reasons why many privacy bills have failed, one factor to consider is that there was $29 Million of combined lobbying efforts by data brokering companies in 2020.

Below is a breakdown of the states with the most comprehensive online privacy laws.

State Privacy Laws

California

In Effect

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 took effect on January 1, 2020 and offers new and extensive privacy rights for California residents, such as:

• The right to be informed about personal data collected by a business and the ability to access and delete that information.
• The right to prevent personal information from being sold to third parties.

• The right to one’s data in an accessible and easily readable format.

Unlike other laws, the CCPA applies to all businesses that collect or use personal information, not just companies operating in California. This allows the California Attorney General to bring actions for civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation.

Colorado

Effective July 1, 2023

The Colorado Privacy Act protects consumers’ rights to privacy by defining entities that use and process data as “controllers” to hold them responsible for protecting personal data. The Colorado Privacy Act also authorizes the Attorney General and district attorneys to take action against violations.

Connecticut 

Effective July 1, 2023

The Connecticut Act sets up a system for controlling and processing personal data, provides responsibilities and privacy protection standards for data controllers and processors, and grants consumers the following rights:

• The right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data.
  
  
• The right to opt-out of the processing of personal data.

Utah

Effective Dec. 31, 2023

Utah’s Consumer Privacy Act ensures that businesses collecting data disclose what personal data they collect, how they use it, and whether they sell consumers’ personal data. The Utah Consumer Privacy Act also holds these businesses accountable for protecting personal data and complying with a consumer’s request to access, delete, or stop the selling of their data.

This law authorizes the attorney general to act and penalize businesses that do not comply with the requirements.

Virginia

Effective January 1, 2023

Establishes an outline of responsibilities and privacy protection standards for all entities that either

(a). control/process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers
                                                                        (or)
(b). acquire over 50% of gross revenue from the sale of personal data and control/ process      personal data of at least 25,000 consumers

The law grants consumers the right to access, correct, and delete personal data as well as the ability to opt-out of targeted advertising. In addition, this law ensures that the Attorney General has exclusive authority to enforce violations of the Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act.

Understanding CCPA and state privacy laws is an important step for you to take control and defend your online privacy. Now that you know the laws regarding online privacy it’s time to understand who has your data and stop the monetization of your personal data online. If you’re ready to take action today, download the Hogo app to see which sites are selling your personal info, automatically request your data to be removed from those sites, and get free insurance coverage in the event your data is stolen.

Categorised in: Data Privacy

This post was written by Nate Ryan