The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a comprehensive privacy law in California that went into effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA gives California residents certain rights and protections regarding their personal information and applies to any business that collects, shares, or sells the personal information of California residents and meets certain criteria.
Under the CCPA, California residents have the right to know what personal information is being collected about them, the right to request that their personal information be deleted, the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information, and the right to access and receive a copy of their personal information.
CCPA Penalties for Non-Compliance
Businesses that fail to comply with the CCPA can face significant penalties and fines. Here are some of the penalties for non-compliance with the CCPA:
Civil Penalties: The CCPA provides for civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation or up to $7,500 per intentional violation. These penalties can add up quickly, particularly for large businesses that handle a significant amount of personal information.
Private Right of Action: The CCPA also allows California residents to sue businesses that violate their CCPA rights. If a business is found to have violated the CCPA, the court can award damages of up to $750 per consumer per incident, or actual damages (whichever is greater).
Reputational Damage: Non-compliance with the CCPA can also lead to reputational damage for a business. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their privacy rights, and news of a CCPA violation can damage a business's reputation and erode consumer trust.
Regulatory Action: The California Attorney General's Office has the authority to bring an enforcement action against a business for CCPA violations. If a business is found to have violated the CCPA, the Attorney General's Office can seek injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation or up to $7,500 per intentional violation.
CCPA Training Requirements for Employees
The CCPA requires businesses to implement certain training requirements for their employees who handle consumer data. Here are some of the key training requirements for employees under the CCPA:
General Awareness Training:
Businesses must provide general awareness training to all employees who handle consumer data. This training should cover the basic provisions of the CCPA, the rights of California residents under the CCPA, and the business's obligations under the CCPA.
Role-Specific Training
In addition to general awareness training, businesses should provide role-specific training to employees who handle consumer data as part of their job duties. This training should cover the specific CCPA requirements that are relevant to their role, such as how to respond to consumer requests for information or how to properly dispose of consumer data.
Annual Refresher Training
Businesses should provide annual refresher training to all employees who handle consumer data to ensure that they are up-to-date on the latest CCPA requirements and best practices.
Recordkeeping
Businesses must keep records of all training provided to employees on CCPA requirements, including the date and content of the training.
Which Employees Need CCPA Training?
Under the CCPA, businesses must provide training to all employees who handle consumer data. This includes all employees who:
Collect personal information from consumers
Make decisions about how to handle personal information
Access personal information of consumers
Process personal information of consumers
Otherwise interact with consumers' personal information
The CCPA defines "personal information" broadly to include any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked with a particular consumer or household. This includes information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, geolocation data, and more.
In practice, this means that many employees within a business may need CCPA training, including those who work in customer service, marketing, human resources, IT, and more. It's important for businesses to assess which employees handle consumer data and ensure that they receive appropriate CCPA training to comply with the law.
In addition to providing general awareness training to all employees, businesses should provide role-specific training to employees who handle consumer data as part of their job duties. This training should cover the specific CCPA requirements that are relevant to their role, such as how to respond to consumer requests for information or how to properly dispose of consumer data.
About LMS Portals
At LMS Portals, we provide our clients and partners with a SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch a dedicated training environment (a portal) for each of your unique audiences.
We provide a ready-made, on-demand CCPA Awareness course and partner with industry experts to provide high-quality, customized CCPA awareness training, delivered on a branded portal with managed services and detailed reporting. We also provide powerful integrations to deliver your program data to most any in-house centralized data management system you choose.
Contact us today to get started or visit our Partner Program pages