As most readers know, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is poised to change privacy compliance all over the world. Large businesses will face a new set of rules if they hold information belonging to California consumers. One of the open questions has been whether protected “consumers” include employees. In other words, does the CCPA govern companies’ handling of their own California employees’ data? It looks like the answer will be “no.” The current CCPA offers little guidance, but last week, the California Assembly took the first step toward an answer. The Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee unanimously passed an amendment excluding employees from the CCPA’s “consumer” definition. AB 25 would also exclude job applicants, contractors, and agents. Of course, none of that means business would have no obligations related to their employees’ and agents’ data. The California Labor Code imposes various rules on employees’ information. But assuming AB 25 passes, companies can at least scratch employee data off their CCPA compliance lists.
Please subscribe to our blog if you’d like to learn more about CCPA and other privacy issues. And please check out the training we offer, including on privacy compliance. Finally, if you’d like to learn more about AB 25, National Law Review has a good article.
