CCPA

The much-anticipated California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) goes into effect on January 1st.  This has implications for all U.S. companies doing business in California that meet the law’s criteria. CCPA is also predicted to become the law of the land as data collection and its privacy issues spill across state boundaries. 

Under CCPA, fines are enforced by the Attorney General and can reach up to $7,500 per intentional violation, and $2,500 max. per unintentional violation. A data privacy lawsuit could easily put a smaller company out of business. Expect watchdog groups to test your compliance. Unless you respond in a sufficient and timely manner, they can go public and report you to the Attorney General, which begins enforcement of CCPA in July.

ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sets guidelines and standards for businesses to make their physical offerings usable by disabled individuals. The act was amended to include websites in 2008. Why has ADA compliance for websites become such a hot topic now? A non-compliant website makes a business potentially liable for fines of thousands of dollars or more. ADA website lawsuits are on the rise; in 2019, there was an increase of 181% over the past year. One of the most disturbing developments is the rise of predatory lawsuits from hundreds of attorneys who are on the lookout to sue noncompliant companies. These lawsuits are generally settled for between a few thousand dollars and $20,000.

Next steps?

Of course, the best reason to comply with CCPA and ADA legislation is to respect the privacy of consumers and meet the needs of disabled individuals— it’s simply the right thing to do. Between legislative deadlines, increased vigilance and corporate extortion at play, the time to get your digital house in order is now. Talk to the experts at Oxford to identify your exposure and chart the best path forward.