(Disclaimer: this article is not a substitute for legal advice. If you have specific questions about CCPA compliance, please consult a lawyer.)

CCPA Overview

TheCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)officially took effect January 1, 2020. The law, which follows Europe’sGDPR(but isn’t as overarching), protects residents of that state against their data being collected and sold without their knowledge. 

According to theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Fact Sheet, the new law applies to any business that operates in the state of California and for which any one of the following is true:

• Has gross annual revenues in excess of $25 million;
• Buys, receives, or sells the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices;
• Derives 50 percent or more of annual revenues from selling consumers’ personal information.

The law obviously applies to home builders in California who meet any of the above criteria, but it also applies to out-of-state builders if you collect personal information from California residents. 

Here are the basic provisions of the CCPA, as summarized by the Fact Sheet. California consumers have the right to:

• Know what personal information is collected, used, shared or sold, both as to the categories and specific pieces of personal information;
• Delete personal information held by businesses and by extension, a business’s service provider;
• Opt-out of sale of personal information. Consumers are able to direct a business that sells personal information to stop selling that information; 
• Non-discrimination in terms of price or service when a consumer exercises a privacy right under CCPA. 

Home Builders and CCPA

Home builders and developers can take a few steps to ensure compliance and give consumers ultimate control over their data:

1) Offer Options

Make sure existing leads and prospects in your database know what personal information of theirs you are storing. Send an email through your CRM offering them the option to review and update their information, opt-out completely, or delete their data.

2) Confirm Awareness

Include a disclaimer on your web forms explaining how registrants’ information will be stored and used. Use a check box to confirm they have read and understood your policy. 

3) Be Transparent

Include a clause about data collection and usage on your legal notices or privacy policy web page.

CCPA won’t be enforced until June 2020, giving organizations time to work out new processes before they face hefty fines of thousands of dollars per violation. Though many large corporations are pushing for federal laws,nearly 20 statesare already considering privacy legislation, and a few new laws have already passed. Even if you are not located in or collecting data from California, now is still a good time to review your privacy policies and prepare for any changes coming your way.

Additional CCPA and Consumer Privacy Resources:

Facebook:Ready for California’s New Privacy Law

Google:Helping Advertisers Comply with CCPA in Google Ads

Lasso CRM:GDPR: The Five Individual Rights

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