The data governance landscape is rapidly changing across the United States every day – and on January 1^st, 2020, a law that aims to provide consumers with more control and power over their personal information will be enacted.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will change how business is done in the Western World – there is no turning back now, and the new leverage that consumers will have with their data is only the beginning of a world that is moving towards global data governance.

Now, is this a threat to your business? The answer is a resounding yes if you are unprepared, but if your organization is enabled with the proper systems to handle everything that this new world of consumer power is going to throw at you, then there is ample room for new competitive advantages and business successes. We saw this with GDPR, and CCPA is so heavily based on those laws – that history is bound to repeat itself.

Let’s run through some parts of CCPA where your business can benefit:

• First of all, the Court is going to laugh at you if you break any of the laws and don’t have any real solution in place for data governance at your company. Being an early adopter and having processes in place to facilitate consumer privacy will “extend your leash” with the Court of Law.
• Oh, how far we are from the days of consumers putting up with improper treatment from businesses. The reputation of your business and how it is perceived by consumers can be tarnished in one single incident of mishandled data. If they consumers cannot trust your business, they will leave – its that simple.
• Speaking of the consumers (what CCPA is really about anyways), how do you think they are going to feel if you are able to show them that you are/have been 100% compliant with the law? Not all of your competitors will be able to do this – and again, if consumers are unable to trust a business, they will leave.
• Now lets talk about you, the business owner. When a consumer exercises their CCPA-given rights, or the auditors come knocking, do you want to be spending countless hours and dollars on giving them what they want, all for it to be not enough? A proper CCPA solution will enable you to completely avoid this, giving you an opportunity to direct your time and resources elsewhere.

So, is there really a reason to fear the indoctrination of CCPA on January 1^st?

As long as your business is ready and has the proper processes in place to handle the mass amounts of consumer data you likely possess, there is nothing to worry about – in fact you should be quite excited, as CCPA will separate the competition into two sections: those who can navigate the ever-increasing data governance landscape, and those who can’t.

Some businesses will bite the bullet and face massive fines. It was proved with GDPR, it is inevitable, and it will be upon us in only a few short months.

Data443 would love to talk with you about how we can help. With our Global Privacy Manager, a CCPA solution specifically tailored to the SMB, businesses can be ready for CCPA, and leverage total data governance to give themselves an edge over competition.