VCDPA Compliance Checklist for Virginia

The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) aims to safeguard the personal data of Virginia residents by granting them rights like accessing their data and opting out of data sales for targeted advertising. Companies doing business in Virginia must comply by either processing data of 100,000 consumers or more or obtaining over 50% of their revenue from selling data. Unlike the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CCPA), the VCDPA does not allow private action by consumers and lacks a revenue threshold for businesses.

Compliance involves adhering to strict data minimization, and security practices, and providing clear privacy notices. Understanding these requirements is crucial for marketing operations, achieving revenue goals, and building user trust, highlighting the importance of tailored compliance strategies for different data privacy laws.

Compliant data is a critical business resource

These steps will help you achieve compliance with the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), which applies to and protects residents of Virginia. The checklist also includes recommended best practices for data privacy-related user experience.

Step 1: Determine if your company is required to comply

If your for-profit organization:

• processes the personal data from at least 100,000 Virginia consumers, or
• processes the personal data from at least 25,000 Virginia consumers, and
• derives at least 50% of annual revenue from selling personal data.

Step 2: Create a comprehensive Privacy Policy

• Purpose: Inform consumers at or before the point of data collection:
  • categories of personal data processed
  • purposes for which data is processed
  • categories of personal data that the controller shares with third parties, if any
  • categories of third parties the controller shares personal data with, if any
• Rights: Inform website visitors of their privacy rights and how to exercise them, including how a consumer may appeal a controller’s decision with regard to the consumer’s request.
• Language: Ensure the Privacy Policy is clear and easy to understand.
• Implementation: Make information about privacy and user options, like consent opt out, available via a banner or pop-up for when users visit your site, e.g. with a Consent Management Platform.

Step 3: Inform users about their rights

Consumers’ rights under the VCDPA:

• Right to Know
  • whether personal data is processed and receive confirmation and access to it
• Right to Access
  • request and receive a copy of their personal data
• Right to Correction
  • updates or corrections to inaccuracies in personal data collected
• Right to Deletion
  • personal data that has been collected about them (with exceptions)
• Right to Data Portability
  • copy of personal data must be provided in a portable and readily useable format
• Right to Opt Out
  • of processing of personal data for the purposes of sale, targeted advertising, or profiling for decisions that would affect the consumer in a legal or similarly significant way
• Right to Non-discrimination
  • for exercising privacy rights
• Right of Minors
  • consent must be obtained from a parent/guardian before children’s (under age 13) personal data is collected
• Right to Restrict Use of Sensitive Personal Information
  • limit or refuse the collection or use of personal data the law classifies as sensitive

Step 4: Inform users about their rights

• Review your operations and potential changes in the law every 12 months. Updating your Privacy Policy information and the effective date. Effective date should be updated even if you don’t make any other changes to the Policy.
• Transparency: Ensure that the information that users must be notified about is clear, comprehensive and up to date. Ensure that the date of the last update is clearly visible.
• Data sold: List all the categories of personal information that your business has sold in the past 12 months.

Step 5: As a best practice, review and update your Privacy Policy or Notice every 12 months

• When: If the personal data collected is sensitive or that of a child.
• Availability: Easily accessible on your website.
• Method: Via the use of a Consent Management Platform (CMP).

Step 6: Authenticate consent or opt out of collection of sensitive personal data or data from minors

• Sensitive Personal Data: Provide clear options to opt out and store preferences for processing of sensitive personal data.
• Consent for Children: Obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian for collection of personal data if the data subject is 13 or younger.

Step 7: Enable consumers to make Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)

• Provide one or more contact options, e.g. toll-free phone number, web form, email.
• Set up a system to enable submission of DSARs.

Step 8: Set up a system to verify Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)

• Enable consumers to attach documentation when submitting a request, to enable secure verification of their identity and residency.
• Set up a system to enable submissions for verification requests.
• If your business cannot reasonably verify the consumer’s identity to the appropriate degree of certainty, it must inform the consumer and explain why the request could not reasonably be verified, and enable the consumer to rectify.

Step 9: Keep track of Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)

• Set up a system to track all requests.
• Time period: keep records of all requests and your business responses for 2 years.

Step 10: Fulfill Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs)

• Standard time period: within 45 days.
• Extended time period: up to 90 days.