With the launch of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and news about additional states passing enhanced privacy regulations in the near future, the data in your email marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) tools must comply with more detailed and stringent privacy laws than ever.
The fact of the matter is, if the data you’re using in your email marketing and CRM doesn’t comply with all state and federal privacy laws, your business could be in big trouble – legally and financially.
What’s at Risk if Your Cannabis Business Doesn’t Comply with CCPA?
The risks of noncompliance with the CCPA are numerous. It’s been estimated that the new regulations of the CCPA will affect more than half a million businesses in the United States, and the penalties for noncompliance could be costly enough that noncompliant businesses may not be able to survive.
More than 500,000 U.S. businesses are likely to be affected by CCPA.Click To Tweet
One of the most important things for businesses operating in the cannabis industry should understand is that under the CCPA, consumers can initiative civil actions against businesses under certain circumstances.
If a consumer’s personal information (either non-redacted or unencrypted) is accessed, stolen, or disclosed without authorization, the consumer can initiate private legal action against the business and seek damages for $100-$750 per incident, or they can seek actual damages – whichever is greater.
The California Attorney General can also pursue a private legal action on behalf of a consumer or a class of consumers if a business violates the CCPA. The fines range from up to $2,500 for each unintentional violation to up to $7,500 for each intentional violation if the business doesn’t cure the violation within 30 days.
Those fines and penalties from legal actions could add up quickly, so cannabis businesses need to ensure all of the data they’re using – including data for email marketing and CRM – is compliant with CCPA as quickly as possible.
How Cannabiz Media Ensures Data in the Cannabiz Media License Database Complies with CCPA
Becoming CCPA compliant isn’t a simple process. It takes a solid strategy, legal advice, and technology.
Cannabiz Media has been hard at work ensuring the data in the Cannabiz Media License Database complies fully with the CCPA, so our clients can feel confident that the data they’re using in theor email marketing and CRM follows all relevant laws.
In order to ensure your email marketing and CRM comply with CCPA, make sure your data comes from a source, like the Cannabiz Media License Database, that ticks the following three boxes:
1. Transparency
Transparency is a critical component of any business’ CCPA compliance strategy. This includes informing people about the data about them that is being collected, used, and shared.
Cannabiz Media created a complete Privacy Center as part of its CCPA strategy based on four key principles:
- To provide transparency about what consumers’ data is being used for
- To allow individuals to control how their information is used
- To maintain confidentiality of data using innovative security measures
- To be responsive and to follow-through with integrity
Through Cannabiz Media’s Privacy Center, people can claim their individual profiles, claim their company profiles, request access to the personal information collected about them, and request removal or deletion from the Cannabiz Media platform entirely.
In addition, Cannabiz Media’s Privacy Policy has been updated to comply with CCPA and includes a specific section for California residents.
The team is also actively tracking privacy laws in other states across the country and is developing processes and strategies to be compliant beyond CCPA.
2. Consumer Control
An important aspect of CCPA is shifting the control of consumers’ personal information away from companies and instead, putting it back in the individuals’ hands.
In support of that goal, companies are required to share privacy notices with consumers when data is collected. Furthermore, companies must provide easy ways for consumers to request access to their data and to delete their data completely.
As mentioned in #1 above, Cannabiz Media has already updated its Privacy Policy and rolled out easy ways for consumers to access and delete their personal information.
3. Proof
An aspect of privacy law compliance that many businesses overlook is the ability to efficiently and rapidly respond to requests – not just consumer requests for data but also legal and regulatory requests.
If a regulator requests data from your business to ensure you’re complying with the CCPA, how long will it take you to deliver that data? Can you access it quickly? If a consumer requests access to their personal information, can you deliver it within the 45 days allowed under the CCPA?
Companies need to have rapid response mechanisms in place, so it’s not only easy to respond to requests but also to be able to quickly prove that business practices are fully compliant with the CCPA. Enforcement is expected to begin on July 1, 2020, so it’s critical that companies are ready.
Cannabiz Media already has these processes in place and can prove that the data in the Cannabiz Media License Database is compliant with the CCPA, so our clients can target and send email marketing messages to cannabis license holders in the United States and around the world without having to worry about privacy compliance.
Key Takeaways about CCPA, Email Marketing, and CRM
High quality data is the holy grail of business in any industry, including the cannabis industry, which means the data you use in your email marketing and CRM tools must be reliable.
But that’s not all you need today.
You also need a variety of strategies and processes in place to ensure all of the data you use, including the data in your email marketing and CRM tools, complies with federal and state privacy laws like the CCPA.
The challenge for cannabis businesses is two-fold. First, the laws are new and far-reaching. Second, the laws keep changing.
The good news is if you use the data available in the Cannabiz Media License Database to grow your cannabis business, you’ll have peace-of-mind that the data is not only high quality but also compliant with CCPA and other privacy laws.
If you haven’t seen the Cannabiz Media License Database in action yet, schedule a demo and see for yourself how it can help your cannabis brand or ancillary business grow in 2020 and beyond.
Susan Gunelius, Lead Analyst for Cannabiz Media and author of Marijuana Licensing Reference Guide: 2017 Edition, is also President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company offering, copywriting, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and strategic branding services. She spent the first half of her 25-year career directing marketing programs for AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more as well as small businesses around the world. Susan has written 11 marketing-related books, including the highly popular Content Marketing for Dummies, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, and she is a popular marketing and branding keynote speaker. She is also a Certified Career Coach and Founder and Editor in Chief of Women on Business, an award-winning blog for business women. Susan holds a B.S. in marketing and an M.B.A in management and strategy.
Source: https://cannabiz.media/how-to-ensure-your-email-marketing-and-crm-comply-with-ccpa/
