California Data Privacy Law: Guide for Startups

Below are top practices for building excellent data privacy that protects you and your customers in California:

1. Adhere to the CCPA and CCPR policies

A crucial step to a practical data policy is to adhere to the California data privacy policies mentioned above. You can protect users’ data privacy and maintain compliance to avoid sanctions and fines.

Therefore, educate employees about the principles to impact how they gather, store and share your consumers’ data.

Additionally, perform regular audits to ensure the company constantly adheres to data governing policies for standard compliance.

2. Collect Relevant Data only

Collecting sensitive details relevant only to an action a consumer wants to perform reduces the value of your external data. It also makes users trust you better.

Reducing data’s value means hackers are less likely to be interested in breaching your information.

For example, if all they can acquire from you is a bunch of customers’ names and email addresses, they are less likely to go through the hassle of hacking your data.

However, keeping highly confidential information like access codes, location, and household income details makes your company a high target for hackers. So, limit unnecessary information and focus on what is essential.

You also build trust in customers when you stick to the basics. For instance, they are likely to trust you better and put in the required information if you stick to what is relevant to the action they want to perform. If you ask for their names and email address to send a document to them, they are less likely to question your authenticity and input their details.

However, suppose you ask for bank details, postal addresses, and other sensitive information irrelevant to the action. In that case, they will begin to question your validity and may not input their data.

Essentially, limiting information volume will reduce the risk of data breaches. It will also increase users’ confidence in the company. So, before requesting their data, examine how useful it is to the company and their purchase experience. If it’s unnecessary, don’t request them.

3. Be Transparent About the Data You Collect and Use

Promoting employees’ data privacy includes openness about how and where you gather users’ information. So, make these details publicly available by adding them to your privacy policy or website cookie policy.

Apart from obtaining trust from customers, doing this also helps you comply with the CCPR policy. Failure to do this often leads to sanctions, so ensure you notify users about how you obtain their information.

4. Limit Access to Data

Another effective way to achieve data privacy is to restrict those who have access to the company’s data. The more people who can access your data, the higher your data’s vulnerability. For example, if thirty accounts have access to the company’s information, your information is exposed to thirty points of vulnerability.

However, limiting those who have access lowers the exposure of the data to breaches. So, let fewer employers have access to the data. Do this by limiting those who can access information to those that work with it. For instance, the accounting team may not need customer behavior information, while the Human Resources team may not need access to information relating to customers’ financial accounts.

The critical factor here is to put restrictions on those who can manage and control users’ private information. It goes a long way in protecting the data from intrusion and promotes accountability. Since you know the few people who have access, you can hold them responsible if anything goes wrong.

5. Make Public Explanations if Data Breaches Occur

Make public declarations if you experience data loss or notice of unauthorized access to consumers’ data. Back this with an explanation of why and how it happened. Then, inform the public about how you managed the situation and the measures taken to prevent future occurrences. When you do this, you project a positive brand reputation as a company that values customers’ privacy. You also comply with the CCPR regulations to avoid penalties.

6. Do Not Use Data for Unauthorized Purposes

Use customers’ private information for intended purposes. Don’t request their data for a reason and use it for a different purpose. Doing this will lead to a violation of the CCPR policies. It could also reduce consumers’ confidence in your brand. As a result, it will hamper good customer relationships and attract extra expenses from fines and other penalties.

7. Provide Sufficient Processes to Collect and Delete Their Customers’ Private Information

Create a transparent and detailed process that highlights how you collect customers’ data, what you do with it, and how you delete it after use. Your customers want to know these details, so providing sufficient information will show how much you cherish their data privacy.