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If you are new to online privacy, you may wonder what sensitive personal information is under the CCPA. Many of the best websites and online shopping platforms have adopted a number of practices that could impact consumer privacy, which is why the CCPA exists in the first place. So what is the CCPA, what is considered sensitive personal information with the CCPA, and how does this help consumers? Keep reading to find out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
For more information, read up on CCPA notice requirements, the “Do Not Sell” stance of the CCPA, exactly what the CCPA considers sensitive information, and whether cookies slow down your computer.
Insider Tip
Not just California has passed regulations like the CCPA, as states such as Virginia have also gotten in on the act.
Before getting into what constitutes personal information, let’s go over the origins and purpose of the CCPA. CCPA stands for the California Consumer Privacy Act. It is an online privacy initiative that primarily benefits California citizens but extends to anyone using online services by California-based corporate entities. The act was passed in 2018 and instituted a number of rights for Internet users, such as the right to know about the personal information that is collected and the right to opt-out of the sale of that personal information. It also mandates that companies inform consumers when they have inadvertently become part of a security breach.
These security breaches involve the disbursement of personal information stored on the company’s servers.
The CCPA dictates a number of items that fall under the umbrella of personal information and, as such, are bound by the laws included within the regulatory act.
If hackers snap up your government-issued photo ID, that is considered personal information and falls under the purview of the CCPA. Personal information may also include boilerplate stuff like name, age, address, and phone number, but this depends on the fine print of the service you use. A consumer’s race, religious affiliation, gender, and sexuality are all off-limits here and fall under the CCPA’s mandate as personal information. In other words, if a hacker snaps up any of this information, it is illegal for the company not to inform you of the act.
STAT: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) gives consumers more control over the personal information that businesses collect about them, and the CCPA regulations provide guidance on how to implement the law. (source)
Financial information falls under the purview of the CCPA, as leaking this data could cause permanent harm to the consumer, including identity theft. This type of personal information includes bank login information, such as passwords, financial account details, debit card numbers, credit card numbers, security access codes, and various banking credentials. Basically, if it can be used for identity theft, it is considered personal information under the CCPA.
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