Learn how a new California Internet law may have implications for your business.
What is the California Consumer Privacy Act?
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) seeks to give Californian consumers more say in how their online data is tracked, stored, and sold by companies. The law will accomplish four things:
- Force companies to disclose data practices
- Allow users to access their personal data collected by companies
- Allow users to opt out of the sale of their data
- Allow users to delete stored data
The legislation, as it currently stands, doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2020, and the fine print is still being debated. What’s clear now, though, is that the CCPA will be a significant change to how online consumer privacy is approached in the United States.
How Does the CCPA Affect My Business?
While this law will primarily affect companies that do significant business in California, the broader effects of the legislation have already begun to ripple out to small businesses around the country.
That’s because companies like Facebook, Google, and MailChimp will be affected by this legislation immediately. Your business may want to consider the impact the law will have on those companies if you make use of their services.
For example, your business may not be responsible for small sets of Google Analytics data collected from Californians using your site, but Google will be. To align with the CCPA, Google and other tech firms may change how they collect data from your site and alter their terms of use. These changes may require that you change your privacy practices, and they will certainly have an impact on ad placement and remarketing returns.
How Can I Prepare My Business?
The CCPA is still being shaped, but it will likely serve as a model for data privacy laws currently being debated across the country. Your business can stay ahead of the curve by doing three simple things:
- Follow the terms of use for each digital analytics or communication tool you use. Making a privacy and data usage policy accessible on your website is a requirement for many data aggregation tools, but very few businesses have these policies in place.
- Recognize that ad placement returns may take a hit as a result of this law. Invest in multiple high-quality touchpoints, both paid and earned, to ensure reach and revenue remains solid.
- Experiment with new ad strategies. According to HubSpot, 77% of consumers would rather filter annoying ads than block all ads. Take time to develop native ad strategies that blend in with the user experience of the chosen platform to engage consumers without annoying them.
Not sure if your business collects consumer data online? Need help implementing a privacy policy? Talk to us. We’re happy to help!