Not having a privacy policy is an avoidable legal pitfall that puts yourself and your business at risk of heavy fines and oversight from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). One of the most important ways of protecting yourself and your business, especially when operating and growing online, is to have an up-to-date privacy policy. In rare instances, a privacy policy will not be required, but more than likely your business is required to have a privacy policy under California law. More than ever privacy matters and if you are not complying with the applicable privacy laws, your business may be fined up to $2,500 for each privacy violation committed.

When to Update a Privacy Policy

Even if you already have a privacy policy, now is a great time to determine whether your privacy policy needs to be updated. First, re-read your privacy policy and see if every provision still accurately reflects how your business operates. A privacy policy generally needs to be updated if you changed how your business operates in handling or gathering different types of personal information, if any one provision in the privacy policy no longer accurately reflects how your business operates, or if there is a new privacy policy law.

New 2020 California Privacy Law 

As of January 1, 2020, a new California privacy law took effect, called the “California Consumer Privacy Act” (CCPA), which according to the California Attorney General website, “creates new consumer rights relating to the access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses.” 

This means additional stricter disclosures and privacy compliance. Who does the new California privacy law apply to? According to the Attorney General of California the new law generally applies to businesses who do any one of the following:

1. Earns annual gross revenues in excess of $25,000,000;

2. Buys, receives for commercial purposes, sells, or shares for commercial purposes, the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices per year; or

3. Derives 50% or more of its annual revenues from selling consumers’ personal information.

To learn more about California privacy policy requirements and the consequences of ignoring them, read our article here. 

Contact us to create a privacy policy or to ensure your current privacy policy is up to date.

In light of these very difficult times, we are offering the following discounted pricing until May 31, 2020. 

• Creating a Privacy Policy - $350 ($150 discount)

• Updating a Privacy Policy - $250 - $450 ($150 discount - price contingent on complexity and quantity of information to review and update)

DISCLAIMER: The contents of the Law Office of George R. Bravo article represent the opinions of the authors and should not be considered legal advice. Due to the generality of this article, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Neither this article nor any legal analysis, legislative updates, or other content derived from it should be construed as legal or professional advice or a substitute for such advice. No attorney-client or confidential relationship is formed by the transmission of this article. The choice of a lawyer or other professional is an important decision and should not be based solely upon this article. Nothing in the article should be construed as a promise or guarantee about the outcome of any matter.