If You Have a Contact Form on Your Site, You Could Face Huge Privacy Law Fines

Recent internet privacy laws have been passed that affect every website looking to capture information from their visitors. If your site has a contact form, requiring personal info (name, email, etc.), then there is a good chance you are in violation of these laws.

Here are the passed privacy laws that you may be violating:

• The California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003
• The General Data Protection Regulation
• Nevada Senate Bill 220 (goes into effect on October 1st, 2019)
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) (goes into effect on January 1st, 2020)

As you see above, two new laws go into effect over the next six months (Nevada/California). The California one is a big deal, because it enables Californians to sue businesses anywhere in the US for not having a privacy policy. The fees per violation of the CA law are up to $7,500. Nevada fees are $5,000 per infringement. The fees per violation of the CA law are up to $7,500.

Furthermore, there are over a dozen states that are drawing up new bills requiring websites to have privacy policies, which are sure to have different requirements for each.

But the real kicker is that what passes today as a compliant policy will likely not pass as compliant in the future. You will be required to maintain your policy pages as new laws are passed/amended.

This is not a hoax. These new privacy laws are real, and website owners that do not comply with can face very real, very large fines.

Sensitivity to privacy protection is the new normal and you'll want to take it seriously. Stay tuned as we keep an eye on this, and work to keep you informed.

To view the original article, visit the Real Estate Tomato blog.