Privacy Rights for Californian Residents: 3 Top Ways to Protect Your Data

For business purposes, companies may require your personal information, such as your billing address and shipping details. However, the information you provide may also be used for other purposes, and without your knowledge, companies can collect a lot of data and information about you and your household from different sources. This is why the California government introduced CCPA rights legislation.

This information can be used to create a personal profile that enables advertisers to target you with tailored ads. These ads could be unwelcome and even unfair. Law enforcement and government agencies could also access this data. Moreover, collecting personal data could increase the risk of identity theft.

To safeguard yourself from harmful uses of your personal information, it is important to exercise your rights to limit the data that companies can use, store, and share with others.

The Basic CCPA Rights of Californian Residents

Understand the privacy practices of a business and your CCPA Rights

Prior to, or at the time of collection of your personal information, businesses are required to disclose what types of personal information they collect, the intended purposes of collecting such data, whether the data will be sold or shared, and the duration of time it will be retained.

Additionally, businesses must provide information regarding your rights under the CCPA and the means of exercising them. This information must be presented in clear and easily understandable language, and made available in all languages typically used by the company.

1. Check and rectify your personal information

You are entitled to request a business to disclose, at no cost, what personal information they possess about you and whether they have shared, sold, or disclosed it to any third parties, twice every 12 months. The business may require some personal information from you to confirm your identity, and they must respond within a specific time frame. If your request is declined, they must provide an explanation. Additionally, if the information they have about you is inaccurate, you can request that it be corrected.

2. Delete your personal data

You are entitled to request that a business delete personal data that it has collected from you. However, the business is only required to delete the personal information that you provided, and not information that it obtained from other sources. Additionally, the business is not obligated to delete information which is essential to fulfill the transaction for which it was collected or for specific legal business reasons.

3. Choose to restrict the use of your personal data

You have the right to request that a business stop selling or sharing your personal information with others and to limit the use or disclosure of your personal data to only what is important to fulfill your request for goods or services. To opt for this right, find the “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” website for you.

You may also find a link to “Restrict the Use of My Personal Data” or “Your California Privacy Choices” where you can opt out of both. If you choose to opt out, the business should wait for a period of one year before coming back to you.

Once you find any of your privacy rights being affected, you can always approach the best consumer action law group and seek legal action against the company to protect your privacy rights.