Yes.
The CCPA applies to personal information held about “consumers” – a term which is defined as referring to any resident of California.1 As a result, if a business is governed by the CCPA rights conferred by the statute – including the right to receive a privacy notice -- apply to any beneficiaries, dependents, and emergency contacts of employees who are California residents.
It is important to note that the CCPA phased in the amount of information required to be disclosed in a privacy notice to beneficiaries, dependents, and emergency contacts of employees. Specifically, privacy notices theoretically had to be provided to such individuals as of January 1, 2020 that identified (1) the type of personal information collected about California beneficiaries, dependents and emergency contacts, and (2) the purpose of the collection.2 The statute did not require that an additional twelve topics be included in privacy notices that were intended to go to “emergency contacts”3 and other “personal information that is necessary for the business to retain to administer benefits . . . relating to [a] natural person acting as a . . . employee” until January 1, 2021, so long as such information “is collected and used solely within the context of administering those benefits.”4
For more information and resources about the CCPA visit http://www.CCPA-info.com.
This article is part of a multi-part series published by BCLP to help companies understand and implement the General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act and other privacy statutes. You can find more information on the CCPA in BCLP’s California Consumer Privacy Act Practical Guide, and more information about the GDPR in the American Bar Association’s The EU GDPR: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions.
1. CCPA, Section 1798.140(g).
2. CCPA, Section 1798.100(b); CCPA, Section 1798.130(a)(3)(B) (note that this subsection does not apply to employee data until January 1, 2021). See also Modified Proposed Reg. 999.305(b)(2) (Feb. 10, 2020).
3. CCPA, Section 1798.145(h)(1)(B) (providing partial exemption set to expire on January 1, 2021).
4. CCPA, Section 1798.145(h)(1)(C) (providing partial exemption set to expire on January 1, 2021).
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