If you operate any of your business online, especially with a client relationship and transactions of any sort, knowing what are the various laws regarding personal data privacy is crucial so that you don’t violate the rules.

In the case of online privacy, to stay on the up-and-up, you must shepherd and protect your customers’ personal data and only utilize their information as you are directed and allowed.

In some instances, the law requires businesses to protect clients’ personal information and data, with fines and fees as rather stiff.

Being aware of the potential risks you may have by conducting any function online is only the first step of providing an ethical, safe, and consumer-friendly business practice.

To grasp the potential risks, you may have and the possible exposure to your business, you need to understand the primary laws that guide any online presence.

Hiring data privacy lawyers to help guide you through the myriad local and international regulations governing privacy use is critical to safely operating a business entity online.

Even though you may be protected in your country, regulations may differ elsewhere due to the Internet’s worldwide reach, and navigating the maze of laws, rules, and regulations is something that only an educated professional can assist you with. It doesn’t matter whether you run a small blog, are a giant pizza chain like Dominos, or somewhere in between; staying in line with requirements is the surest way to avoid fines from online data laws.

Below are some of the more serious regulations that affect your online presence from COPPA, CalOPPA, GDPR, and PIPEDA are listed below for you to review.

COPPA

The federal law regulating children’s privacy online is known as COPPA, an acronym for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

In general, the law protects the confidentiality and security of minors aged 13 and younger.

The main requirement for COPPA is to ensure parental consent prior to collection, usage, disclosure, tracking, and sharing of a minor’s personal information.

Some of the basic guidelines of COPPA include:

• A clear posting of the privacy policies on your website
• Parental notification of their consent of collection of personal information
• Ability to approve or deny third-party usage
• Changes to data collection are mandated to be reported to all users
• Rights of the parent to know what type of information is collected and how it will be used

CalOPPA

The California Online Privacy Protection Act was created to protect the privacy of residents in California. Still, in effect, it is the primary law that regulates all online presence and transactions.

Due to the reach and prevalence of the Internet, any business that conducts business in the State of California is under this law’s jurisdiction.

Features of the CalOPPA law include protections of:

• Any first and last names
• Home and business addresses
• Email addresses
• Home and mobile phone numbers
• Geolocation services
• Social Security numbers
• Credit Card and other online payment options

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation is a reasonably new statute issued by the European Union and is a more robust version of the antiquated Data Protection Directive of 1995.

Some of the primary points of emphasis in the GDPR are to provide coverage and protection on a much larger geographic sphere than just the EU and stricter fines for violations.

• A broader scope of protection coverage from just the EU to any entity conducting business within the EU regardless of country of origin
• Necessitates acceptance and compliance to data collection and usage
• Sharper fines for violators
  • Fines are shaped in two tiers;
  • For willful violators, steeper fines are accrued
  • For compliant assistance to remedy and eliminate further damages, fines are lessened.

PIPEDA

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is a Canadian statute that regulates how private entities gather, store, and use personal data and information.

Some key points of the legislation include:

• Knowledge of why and how data is collected, stored, and used
• Guarantees that the purpose of data is used as stated
• Mandates contact information for the person responsible for data security within the website
• Obtain explicit consent for data collection and usage
• Provide consumer products and services even if they choose to opt-out of the data program
• Fines begin at $100,000 for violators and escalate from there

These regulations are just some of the more broad ones to understand, but there are local, state, and regional ones to keep tabs on as well, and unless you have an entire legal team dedicated to following, updating, and educating you on all the requirements, you may find your business to be in violation by accident.