What Does the CCPA Mean for the Life Sciences Industry?

On April 7^th, MediSpend hosted the webinar What Does the CCPA Mean for Life Sciences Companies, where we provided an overview of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requirements based on the most recent guidance. We also discussed many of the complicated intricacies of establishing CCPA controls impacting life science organizations today.

Some of the topics we addressed included:

• Developing processes to identify personal information for California consumers
• Leveraging existing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance program processes and controls
• Establishing documented evidence of training for employees and third-party service providers
• Pending state privacy bills
• Two proposed federal legislations
  • The Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act, introduced in November 2019
  • The Data Protection Act, introduced in February 2020

Despite the March 17^th attempt made by a large group of organizations who sent a letter to the Attorney General Xavier Becerra requesting a delay in the enforcement of CCPA until January 2, 2021 due to COVID-19, there have been no responses indicating that they are considering modifying the date.

Instead, on April 10^th, the Attorney General released a statement reiterating the requirements under the CCPA and consumer’s rights during the crisis. In part, he reminded residents that they can opt-out of the sale of their personal information, require businesses to delete any personal data they have collected, as well disclose any personal information businesses collect, use, share, or sell twice within the given 12-month period.

“The reality is that COVID-19 is forcing families to adjust to a new way of living and connecting remotely,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “Whether it’s our children’s schooling, socializing with family and friends, or working remotely – we are turning to mobile phones and computers as a lifeline. With such a dependency on online connectivity, it is more important than ever for Californians to know their privacy rights.”

Over the past few months, several class-action lawsuits have been filed, alleging a host of CCPA violations, including the improper collection and sale of personal information, without notice or proper consent and failing to inform consumers of their rights to opt-out of the sale of personal information to third parties.

With the continuous news updates surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s easy for companies to put themselves at compliance risk by missing the continued changes to CCPA regulations and pending lawsuits. If you are interested in learning more about the impact that CCPA has on the life sciences industry and how to mitigate your risk, click here to download our webinar What Does the CCPA Mean for Life Sciences Companies.

 

Diana Borges
Vice President of Compliance Solutions

April 23, 2020