California Legislators Extend the CCPA Exemptions for Employee and Business-to-Business Data

By the virtue of amendments enacted in October of 2019, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) currently exempts employee and business-to-business information from most of the Act’s requirements.  The exemptions are currently scheduled to sunset at the end 2020.

Under the so-called “employee exemption,” the CCPA exempts from all provisions of the Act, except the private right of action and notice at collection, information collected from a person by a business in the course of the person acting as a job applicant to, an employee of, owner of, director of, officer of, medical staff member of, or contractor of that business.  The exemption applies only to the extent that the information is collected and used by the business solely within the context of the person’s role (or former role) as a job applicant to, an employee of, an owner of, director of, officer of, medical staff member of, or contractor of that business.

By the same token, the “business-to-business exemption,” provides that with the exception of the right to opt-out, non-discrimination, and the private right of action, the CCPA does not apply to personal information reflecting business-to-business communications and transactions within the context of business conducting due diligence or where a product or service is provided or received.

On August 30, 2020, the California legislature passed AB-1281, an amendment to the CCPA, which extended the exemptions until January 1, 2022.  The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which will be on the California ballot this November, would extend the exemptions even further until January 1, 2023.  AB-1281 would become operative only if the voters do not approve the CPRA.

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