Beware California's New Data Privacy Law

It may affect you if you have clients there, and other states may follow suit.

Financial services firms with clients in California should take note of a new state law giving individuals the right to access personal data that has been collected about them, opt out of the sale of that data and demand its deletion.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, which took effect Jan. 1, applies to companies that have annual gross revenue exceeding $25 million, collect personal information of 50,000 people a year or derive half their annual revenue from selling consumers’ personal information...

...Mark Wernig, a lead advisor and principal at Dowling & Yahnke Wealth Advisors in San Diego, says his firm is nearing the law’s threshold for coverage and preparing to comply. The firm is investing in training curriculum for all client-facing advisors to educate them about the California law, including its definition of personal information, which covers a household, not just individuals, and 12-month lookback for personal data collection, says Wernig.

“We have completely revamped management of data since last summer and are looking to work exclusively with third parties that emphasize data control,” says Wernig, who’s also a CFP Board ambassador. “We want our advisors to have a healthy appreciation for client privacy — what’s appropriate and what’s not.”

ThinkAdvisor
by Bernice Napach
January 9, 2020