Attorney General Bonta Seeks Information from California Employers on Compliance with California Consumer Privacy Act

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced an investigative sweep, through inquiry letters sent to large California employers requesting information on the companies’ compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) with respect to the personal information of employees and job applicants. Effective January 1, 2023, covered businesses must also comply with the CCPA’s robust privacy protections as it relates to employee data. Businesses subject to the CCPA have specific legal obligations, such as providing notice of privacy practices and fulfilling consumer requests to exercise their rights to access, delete, and opt out of the sale and sharing of personal information. 

“The California Consumer Privacy Act is the first-in-the-nation landmark privacy law, and starting this year, the personal information of employees, job applicants, and independent contractors received greater data privacy protections because of it,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are sending inquiry letters to learn how employers are complying with their legal obligations. We look forward to their timely response.”

Attorney General Bonta is committed to the robust enforcement of the CCPA. In August 2022, he announced a settlement with Sephora resolving allegations that it failed to disclose to consumers that it was selling their personal information and failed to process opt-out requests via user-enabled global privacy controls in violation of the CCPA. Moreover, he has conducted several investigative sweeps, most recently of popular mobile applications compliance with consumer opt-out requests. Attorney General Bonta has also posted case examples of how businesses have responded to notices of alleged noncompliance.   

Following California’s lead, other states have passed their own comprehensive privacy frameworks. Effective July 1, 2023, Connecticut and Colorado are now able to enforce their respective state privacy laws. Attorney General Bonta has led a coalition of attorneys general in urging Congress not to preempt stronger state privacy laws. 

For more information about the CCPA, visit www.oag.ca.gov/ccpa. To report a violation of the CCPA to the Attorney General, consumers can submit a complaint online at www.oag.ca.gov/report.