Online Privacy Protection Act, California Business and Professions Code Section 22575-22579

If your web site or online service collects personally identifiable information about individual consumers who are residents of California, you must comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003, which became effective July 1, 2004.

Personally identifiable information includes first and last name, home or other physical address, e-mail address, telephone number, social security number, and any other indentifiers that permit the individual to be contacted.

Compliance with the Online Privacy Protection Act means conspicuously posting a privacy policy on the site that identifies categories of personally identifiable information your company collects; describes the process by which consumers can review and request changes to personally identifiable information collected by your company, if the feature is made available to consumers; describes categories of third parties with which your company shares personally identifiable information; discloses the process by which your company notifies consumers of material changes in the privacy policy; and displays the effective date of the policy.

Information is �conspicuously posted if it appears prominently on the home page or if it is directly linked to the home page by an icon that contains the word “privacy” and uses a color that contrasts with the background. It is also acceptable to use hypertext link that includes the word �privacy� and is written in capital letters equal to or greater size than the surrounding text, or is otherwise readily distinguishable from the surrounding text on the home page.

The operator is deemed to be in violation of this law if it fails to post policy within 30 days of notification on noncompliance. The law does not set forth specific remedies, but could be sued under California�s Unfair Competition Law.

So, if you collect ANY of this information:

  • First and last name
  • Home or other physical address
  • E-mail address
  • Telephone number
  • Social Security number
  • Other indentifiers that permit the individual to be contacted

contact us to help place a Privacy Policy on your site.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=22001-23000&file=22575-22579