As of January 1st 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) is officially in effect. This landmark act consists of a sweeping set of laws to control the collection, storage and sale of consumer data. Not surprisingly, the act is already causing widespread anxiety among many businesses that handle consumer data. Sales and marketing departments are expected to be especially affected given the data-driven nature of their initiatives. What follows is a plain english explanation of the CCPA and how to navigate it as a salesperson or marketer.
What is the CCPA?
The CCPA grants all residents of California (or “consumers”) 5 new rights respecting their personal information. In sum, the CCPA grants residents the right to:
- Request disclosure of all data that has been collected on them.
- Own a copy of this data (from up to 12 months before request).
- Demand that all of the data be deleted.
- Request that their personal information not be given/sold to third parties.
- Not be discriminated against because they exercised any of the new rights.
Similarly to Europe’s GDPR law passed in 2018, the consequences for not complying with the CCPA are severe. As a result, companies will have to spend a lot of time and money reengineering the way they process and protect their data.
What businesses will be covered by the CCPA?
There are three types of businesses that are covered by the CCPA:
- Businesses with more than $25 million in annual gross revenue; or
- Businesses with personal data on more than 50,000 consumers; or
- Business that make more than 50% of their revenue selling consumer data.
The CCPA is not only an issue for companies that do business in California. The privacy law extends to out-of-state merchants who sell to Californians, even those that display a website in the state. According to Fortune, most companies will apply the CCPA nationwide to avoid removing themselves from the Californian economy.
What is the future for data-driven sales and marketing?
It’s no secret that modern sales and marketing teams rely heavily on personal data to drive their activities. The passing of the CCPA obviously poses a serious threat to these activities causing concern in many companies. The concern is especially pronounced because the CCPA list of covered “personal data” is commonly used in sales and marketing. The list includes: biometrics, browsing history, products purchased or considered for purchase, location, academic and employment information and any profiles that reflect an individual’s preferences.
One way companies can be compliant, while achieving their sales and marketing goals, is to use non-personal, account level intelligence.
Account Level Data from HG Insights
HG Insights provides strategic account level technology intelligence that can be used for anything from market analysis and sales territory planning to account prioritization and campaign execution. Since this intelligence analyzes companies, not people, it is compliant with both CCPA and GDPR, so companies can immediately leverage it without needing to set up special processes to comply with privacy laws.
HG Insights’ technology intelligence encompasses three main areas:
- Installed Technologies
- Identifies the specific hardware and software products that over 12 million companies are using, including those “behind the firewall.”
- IT Spend Intelligence
- Analyzes how much your accounts are spending in specific product categories using the world’s largest and most granular collection of account-based IT spending intelligence.
- Contract Intelligence
- Tracks IT software and services contracts giving you a unique view of when your accounts are in the market to buy your product.
Learn more about how HG Insights can help you run and grow your business faster with account level intelligence by visiting our Technology Insights page.
