Privacy pros expecting an increase in privacy rights requests as a result of COVID-19
92% of companies are concerned about new consumer rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) with 51% believing this is the hardest part of CCPA compliance and 64% planning to spend more than $100K on compliance in 2020, according to Truyo.
Despite changing IT priorities and tightening of spend due to COVID-19 measures, 56% of data privacy professionals are expecting there will be an increase in rights requests as a result of COVID-19.
The research found that consumers are actively exercising their rights under CCPA with 51% of companies receiving more than 10 requests a week and 20% receiving more than 100 requests a week. The research surveyed 221 data privacy decision makers at companies with more than 1000 employees between 3/31/20-4/13/20.
“With changed behavior due to the covid control measures Americans are increasingly online and on zoom sharing more data than ever before. What was already a compliance headache for privacy professionals is now only likely to increase with the additional requirements for employee data and a spotlight on companies to protect consumer privacy ahead of enforcement starting in July,” said Dan Clarke, President of Truyo.
What have companies done to address CCPA?
Companies are taking the new legal requirements seriously with 59% investing in new tools to address CCPA privacy rights. Product features and automation capabilities were the top requirements for executives when choosing a third-party provider with a focus on long term scalability through automation while managers were more focused on costs.
The research also revealed a chasm in understanding between IT and Legal departments on what’s involved in managing data with 55% of legal professionals saying their solution was fully automated and only 13% of IT.
Privacy rights requests: What next?
With the exemption for employee rights under the CCPA due to end on December 31, 2020, 92% of privacy professionals said they planned to extend privacy rights to employees with 62% planning to offer these to all employees not just those in California. Only 15% say they intend to wait until this is a legal requirement under the CCPA.
74% are tracking progress in the introduction of new state privacy legislation outside of California. For 64% additional state legislation is the biggest driver to introduce a third-party tool to support compliance.