CCPA, COVID-19 and Data Security

In January, the CCPA went into effect but enforcement was delayed until California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra finalized the underlying regulations, or July 1, 2020. 

On June 1, the Attorney General of California submitted the final regulation package for the state’s comprehensive data protection law, the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).

CCPA was voted into state law back in 2018 and came into effect in January 2020. Now the exact formulation of the law has been finalized by the California Justice Department, enforcement is set to commence on July 1st. 

CCPA is considered a groundbreaking data regulation. The most important aspects of the CCPA include “the right to opt-out”, essentially the ability for users to object to their data being distributed or sold and demand personal details be deleted.   Also, companies will now be required to “maintain reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the information”, in other words, the more sensitive the data, the more protection required.

Now that CCPA has been fully hammered out, there are some important implications that companies need to take into account. 

The first thing to take into account is how CCPA relates to another data law of global impact, the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Legal experts the world over have invested heavily in comparing these two pieces of legislation, as both have had a sweeping influence on the world of IT.   The bottom line is for Californians (as well as those doing business in the state) the standards for safeguarding and collecting personal data will essentially have to meet those of GDPR. In fact, in many respects, CCPA is actually more stringent than its European counterpart. The most important difference pertains to the very definition of personal information. Whereas GDPR only applies to the personal details of natural persons, CCPA extends to organizations and businesses as well.    

CCPA and COVID-19

Another element to take into consideration is how CCPA will affect the post-COVID-19 business world.   After millions globally shifted to work from home, observers from the corporate world to the United Nations have all in agreement: increases in the remote workforce are almost certainly here to stay.   This incredible shift of operations to the digital sphere means compliance with data regulation will be more important for businesses than ever before.       

Enter the Future with Confidence 

Revamping operations to accommodate new security requirements can be highly disruptive to operations, part of the reason that many of these reforms triggered an uproar from the tech industry.

GTB’s Data Loss Protection tools offer a streamlined solution for companies that seek the most robust in data security while not hindering workflow. Powered by artificially intelligent algorithms, GTB’s platforms virtually neutralizes false positives in security scans, organizes data by a wide range of markers identifying components, and monitors data in all its forms, both at rest and in motion. This ensures that data remains under the highest standards of protection, and avoids blanket security protocols that create obstacles for employees and impeded collaboration in the workplace.

Data regulation is today a strong, permanent feature of the business environment. GTB enables companies to achieve compliance with ease and efficiency.