Privacy Is a Priority.

• Author: Pugliese, Anthony

In my Opinion, the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has wide-reaching implications for CPAs and the clients and employers they serve. For CPAs in public practice, the new law may- affect their own firms and those of their clients; for CPAs in business and industry, their employers also may face compliance issues. Either way, the CCPA--which goes into effect Jan. 1--has the potential to impact thousands of CPAs and companies operating across the country.

In the world of privacy protection for the public, this is not the first law on the books--but it certainly sets the bar high. similar to the recently implemented General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, which is widely seen as one of the most stringent standards for privacy protection. Within the U.S., we also have health care data protections via 2006's HIPPA and online privacy protection specifically to safeguard children--called COPPA (effective April 2000). But the CCPA is the first law of its kind among the states.

To help you better understand the CCPA, CalCPA will be hosting its 2019 privaC summit Dec. 11. Visit calcpa.org/privacy for details and to register.

Details about the CCPA

* Defines "personal information" broadly to mean "information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household."

* Applies to for-profit companies that both collect/process personal information of California residents and do business in the state (not-for-profit companies are exempt from the law). If these same companies also meet at least one of three thresholds below, they must comply with the law:

* The company generates annual gross revenue over $25 million;

* The company receives, shares or sells personal information of more than 50,000 California residents annually; or

* The company earns at least

50 percent of its annual revenue by selling personal information of California residents.

* A physical presence in California is not a requirement for a for-profit company to be subject to the CCPA.

* Not-for-profit businesses and companies that do not meet at least one of the three thresholds are not required to comply.

The CCPA also creates new rights for consumers with respect to the type of control they have over their personal information. These rights include knowing about, accessing, deleting and opting out of the sharing or selling of their...