California outlines ways to comply with upcoming privacy law

Companies must notify CA residents of their data privacy rights in plain language and must verify people’s identities before releasing data. CA Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced draft regulations that also spell out ways people can ask for their personal information to be deleted from company databases. The rules are being drafted to implement a landmark state privacy law that takes effect in Jan. The law allows CA residents to learn what information companies hold on them, request deletion and opt out of the sale of their personal information. Although only CA residents can make requests, the law is expected to have a broader effect on how companies manage and sell people’s information online. That’s because companies outside the state must comply if they meet relatively low thresholds. “Data is today’s gold,” AG Becerra said. ”Everyone is rushing to mine data.”