On January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) went into effect.  The CCPA allows California residents to obtain information on how businesses are using their personal information.  This law allows California residents combat increasingly offensive corporate conduct relating to personal information. (See 23andMe sharing genetic data of its customers with GlaxoSmithKline and Facebook providing other corporations access to personal information of its users)  The CCPA provides California residents with some of the following rights: the right to know what personal data is being collected, used, shared or sold; the right for consumers to direct that personal data be deleted; the right for consumers to direct that a business not sell any personal information; and restricting use of personal data on children under the age of 16.  The CCPA will apply to any for profit entity that does business in California and has gross revenue in excess of $25 million; buys or receives for commercial purposes, personal information of 50,000 or more consumers; or earns more than half of its annual revenue from selling personal information of consumers.  

If any provision of the CCPA is violated a fine up to $7,500 for each intentional violation and $2,500 for each unintentional violation can be assessed.  Further, if a company loses data through a data security breach, that company can be ordered in civil class action lawsuits to pay statutory damages between $100 to $750 per incident for each California resident.

If you believe that your personal information has been compromised through a data breach or if your personal information has been used in violation of the law, it is important to seek the guidance of a skilled Consumer Protection Attorney as soon as possible.  To schedule a consultation to discuss your situation with one of our attorneys, contact The Kim Law Firm, LLC today by calling 855-996-6342.