California’s New Privacy Law Will Change How You Do Business
By Wayne Nitti
California is a few months away from implementing a new data privacy law that will upend the way companies do business in the state.
The California Consumer Privacy Act is set to go into effect on January 1, 2020 and will be the most far-reaching data privacy law in the country. Under the CCPA, consumers are in control of their personal data – they can decide how and whether businesses can use that information and can demand that such collected data be deleted.
The law will directly affect for-profit companies doing business in the state which both collect California consumers’ personal information and determine the purposes and means of processing such information. In order to fall under the scope of the CCPA, companies must also meet at least one of three requirements: (1) their annual gross revenue must be greater than $25 million; (2) they must earn more than half of that annual revenue through the sale of consumers’ personal information; or (3) they must buy, sell, share and/or receive personal information of at least 50,000 California consumers, households or devices, per year.
Failure to comply with the language of the CCPA may result in hefty fines of $2,500 for each unintentional violation and up to $7,500 for each intentional violation. Additionally, companies that suffer data theft or other type of breach may face class-action lawsuits seeking statutory damages of $100 to $750 per violation, or actual damages, whichever is greater.
Companies doing business in California are understandably nervous about the CCPA’s enactment. They stand to lose not only goodwill and consumer confidence, but a chunk of revenue if they fail to adequately protect their customers’ information or sell that information without prior consent.
Laws like the CCPA underscore the importance of ensuring that a company’s data storage environment is stable and secure. With so much at stake in California – and with corporate hacking on the rise—safeguarding client information should be one of the first items on any company to-do list.
It’s not just customer-facing companies that should be concerned about the increase in hacking; law firms and other professional service providers are increasingly vulnerable to hacks. As much as lawyers would like to wish the problem of data security away, client demand for increased protections of confidential material and security audits is also on the rise. In fact, the American Bar Association recommends that law firms step up their security, especially with information sent digitally.
In this environment of escalating data breaches, selecting a case management system that protects confidential client data is imperative. At Case Anywhere, we are hypervigilant when it comes to shielding your data. For example, we employ a rigorous, five-pronged cybersecurity framework developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and adhere to industry best practices including secure socket layer (SSL) protections, multi-factor authentication, and database encryption. Our proprietary software creates secure, private spaces for individual cases. We monitor and back up all data.
These are just a few of the methods we use to ensure confidentiality. If you would like to find out more about how Case Anywhere’s online case management systems can protect your valuable client data, request a demonstration or email our support team. You can also learn more about our security protocol by reviewing our website.
At Case Anywhere, we’re committed to your security and your firm’s success. We look forward to protecting your data.