But I don’t live in California! While that may be true, you may still be affected by the most recent laws to ensure privacy for California or EU residents. Does your website serve people in the EU or California? Then you may still need to comply. For example, the CCPA states businesses that meet any of the following criteria need to comply:
Either way, as more and more laws and regulations are put into place, many businesses are taking steps now to ensure they comply, at least to a degree. Not only to avoid being sued, but also as a best practice and to prepare for the day it will be a requirement in your area.
Wikipedia has a quick study on both the CCPA and the GDPR that can be a good starting point. In essence, they are laws in place to provide residents under each locality the right to know, refuse and request any personal data collected on them while not being discriminated against.
Unfortunately, the complexity and potential options for being “compliant” are so vast that few industries have out-of-the-box solutions that meet all of the ever-changing requirements. So, please ignore the “3 easy steps to compliancy for under $100” type ads. It’s just not that simple. In addition, many of the requirements will take corporate level adjustments to how your business operates. The truth is, this will need to be an ongoing discussion with decision makers in your business and your website developer. With that in mind, here are a few questions to start the discussion:
The vacation rental market is inundated with tools to get more direct bookings to increase dependency from big listing websites. As your company grows and reaches a larger audience, chances are one day, you’ll be marketing to an individual in a location with a regulation in place to ensure their privacy. If your business is in California that day was Jan 1, 2020.
Make sure you are securing your business’s future by partnering with a web development firm that not only is experienced in the vacation rental industry but has the flexibility to put your decisions in place. Send us an email and see how our 20+ years of industry experience and customizable platform can protect your business.
Published by Austin Rodgerson Wednesday, February 26, 2020
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