The Battle of Two Privacy Laws: CCPA vs GDPR
When comparing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) versus the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), there are some blatantly obvious similarities and differences, as well as some more nuanced differences.
The first thing to note about these two regulations is that they affect two geographically different audiences:
GDPR: It’s all about protecting the private data and personal information (PI) of “natural persons” (individuals) who are in the European Union from businesses, public bodies and institutions that are established inside and/or outside of the union.
CCPA: It aims to protect the private information of California consumers from for-profit businesses that meet specific thresholds (more on that in a bit).
Although they share some similar definitions, in many ways, the CCPA and the GDPR are also different in their approaches. They have different terminology concerning whose data is protected, what types or categories of data are protected, and the types of organizations or businesses that the laws apply to.
Comparing the CCPA vs GDPR is much like looking at apples and oranges. They have many similarities —they’re both roundish tree-grown fruits with stems and strong flavors (oh, and they both make juices that taste fabulous and are great additions to any sangria… but I digress.) — but when you get down to comparing CCPA vs GDPA, there are many differences between the two.