Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the right to be forgotten in California. Learning about a new loan can often be quite confusing. Don’t worry; we are here to help in this regard.

In this article, we provide an in-depth guide to the right to be forgotten in California.

Applicability of GDPR Right To Be Forgotten in California

The right to be forgotten was originally granted by the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union. While this is not directly applicable in California, the right to be forgotten in the state is highly influenced by the same. Here, it is important to briefly discuss the GDPR.

The right to be forgotten is available in the following conditions:
  • Personal data should be collected, stored, and processed by a company or an organization.
  • Personal data should belong to residents or citizens of the European Union.
  • The company processing the data can belong to any country.
  • The right to be forgotten can only be exercised by an individual. This right is not available to any artificial persons such as a company.

The right to be forgotten in California is based on these general principles of the GDPR. Apart from this, the law in California also imposes certain additional requirements.

Is there a law Right To Be Forgotten in California?

The legislature enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for granting the right to be forgotten in California. The CCPA is a broad data protection regulation. Here, we only the impacts of it on the right to be forgotten in California.

The CCPA applies in following conditions:

  • The company should buy, share, or sell the personal information of at least 50,000 residents of California.
  • The company should do business in California.
  • The company should earn at least 50% of the revenue from the sale of personal data.
  • The company should have annual revenue of at least $25 million.

As you can see, the right to be forgotten in California can only be exercised against a limited number of companies. This is unlike the European Union, which grants much broader protection.

The CCPA gives a very broad definition of personal data. This can include any sensitive personal information, phone number, biometric information, social security number, etc.

Interestingly, the right to be forgotten in California is broader in scope. This includes two separate rights:

  • Residents can request companies to permanently delete information from their websites as well as separate databases. This means that the company can no longer access the data in any form.
  • Residents can also request to opt-out of the sale of their information. This would mean that the personal data can still be used by the company to provide services. However, they can no longer sell the data and profit from the same.

As per the legislation, if a company fails to comply with the request of an individual, it will be liable to pay a certain penalty. Every individual has a right to exercise this separately. This means that the company will have to pay an additional penalty each time it violates this right.

For the first violation, a penalty of up to $2,500 can be imposed. This increases to $7,500 for each additional violation.

FAQ

  1. What is the Right To Be Forgotten rule?

The right to be forgotten in California grants individuals a right to either completely raise their information online or opt-out of the sale of their personal data.

  1. How long do we have to act a right to be forgotten?

Once you submit a request, the company is legally bound to reply within 30 days.

  1. Does CCPA include the right to be forgotten?

Yes, the CCPA grants the right way forgotten in California. This can be exercised by residents of California against companies that primarily make their revenue from selling personal data.

  1. Does everyone have a right to be forgotten?

The right to be forgotten is recognized differently by different countries. Therefore the scope of its application will change based on your location. While some countries provide robust protection, this is severely limited in other countries.

  1. Does the right to be forgotten apply to companies?

No. The right to be forgotten can only be exercised by an individual. This is not applicable to any other organization or company.

  1. Is the right to be forgotten a fundamental right in California?

In Canada, this right is recognized by law. However, this is not a fundamental right.

Author

Right to be forgotten lawyer team is working to keep clean the internet. We use laws to repair individual's and company's online reputation. Content removal, online reputation management, erasure right, right to be forgotten are our expertise areas. The team has member's of United United Kingdom, European Countries, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zeland solicitors and lawyers.

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