CCPA vs GDPR – A Detailed Comparison For 2025

Are you looking to learn the difference between CCPA vs GDPR?

In the digital world, where data breaches are very common, data privacy laws around the world play a crucial role in safeguarding individuals’ rights.

The two most important data privacy laws worldwide are the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in California.

Both laws enforce data privacy protection for residents and prevent data from getting into the wrong hands.

Here, the CCPA vs GDPR guide lets us check how these two regulatory laws work and what rights they provide to people.

What is CCPA?

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ensures that businesses inform customers in California about the information collected about them.

The CCPA law was enforced in 2018. It targets businesses that gather and market personal customer data. The CCPA was one of the earliest data protection regulations to sweep the USA.

It offers groundbreaking data protections by giving Californians a more significant voice over what happens to their personal information. The goal is to empower them to make more informed decisions about how their data is used and maintained.

Additionally, it gives customers several important rights in gathering and archiving their personal data. Since data is one of the most valuable commodities on the planet, data privacy laws are crucial in protecting customers from unethical operations involving data mining.  

Data privacy laws establish acceptable data security standards and compliance obligations for enterprises. Adherence to regulations is therefore necessary for firms to avoid penalties or legal repercussions for noncompliance.  

The most comprehensive privacy law in the US is the California Consumer Privacy Act. It addresses four main topics:

• The right to request that businesses erase any information they may have about you. 
• The right to know how businesses use your information.
• The ability to refuse to have your personal information
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising their CCPA rights

For instance, if you are a resident of California and you have done business with a company in the past, you have the right to request that the company tell you the information they have about you and to have that information deleted.

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on May 25, 2018, and it provides a framework for gathering, using, transferring, and storing personal information. 

The CCPA stipulates that companies must treat all personal data securely and imposes fines and penalties on companies that violate these obligations. Additionally, it gives people some rights to their personal information.

The GDPR prohibits companies from processing any person’s personally identifiable information (PII) unless they satisfy one or more of the following six requirements:

• Consent in writing from the data subject.
• Processing must carry out a contract with the data subject or initiate the process of entering into one.
• The processing must fulfill a legal requirement.
• The processing must safeguard a data subject’s or another person’s vital interests.
• Processing must be carried out to fulfill a duty in the public interest or exercise the controller’s official power.
• The controller or a third party’s legitimate interests require processing unless those interests are superseded by the freedoms, rights, or interests of others.

These conditions aim to ensure that companies handle personal data lawfully and transparently while respecting the rights and freedoms of the individuals to whom the data relates.

Businesses that violate the GDPR could face fines of up to 20 million euros ($21.77 million USD) or 4% of annual worldwide turnover. Additionally, the person in this role must ensure to follow the correct data protection guidelines when handling personal information.

Difference Between CCPA vs GDPR

In this section, let us talk about the key difference between CCPA vs GDPR in detail.

Key Difference	CCPA	GDPR
Law into effects	January 1, 2020.	May 25, 2018.
Type of Law	Statutory law	Just a regulation
Enforcing Authority	Enforced by the California Attorney General	Enforced by EU Commission, EDPB, and data protection authorities of EU Member States.
Who Does it Apply To?	Any for-profit organization collecting personal data about California residents.	Organizations that collect data on individuals within the European Union and European Economic Area.
Type of Data Covered	Name, email address, purchase records, browsing history, location, and more.	Identification number, online identifier, email address, phone number, or sensitive type of data, and more.
Disclosure to Users	Should disclose what type of PII they collect, how and why, and to whom they share (or sell) the data.	They should disclose what type of PII they collect, how and why, and to whom they share (or sell) the data.
Penalties	Fines are on the lighter side. $2500 for unintentional violations, $7500 for intentional violations and $100-750 in damages in civil court.	Fines are on the higher side. A fine of $20 million or 4% of its annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Rights of Users	Have 45 days to respond to the requests.	Have one month to respond to the requests.
Right For Users to opt-out	Can opt out under “Do Not Sell My Personal Information”	Under the GDPR, businesses must offer both opt-in and opt-out choices.
Age of Consent	Need consent from people under 16 or parents of children under 13.	The minimum consent age is 16, but parents need consent under 13.
Security Requirements	No specific security requirements	Data security is one of the main requirements.

CCPA vs GDPR Compliance – To Whom Does The Law Apply?

In this section, we will take a look at who the law applies to.

CCPA Law

California Consumer Privacy Act gives Californian individuals rights and safeguards regarding their personal information, and it applies to various organizations. Below is a thorough explanation of who is covered by the CCPA:

• Business: Companies that satisfy any one or more of the following requirements are subject to the CCPA:
  • Who has a gross income of more than $25 million annually.
  • Purchase, obtain, distribute, or sell the personal data of at least fifty thousand customers, homes, or gadgets for profit.
  • At least half of their yearly income comes from selling customer personal data.

• Service Providers: This policy strictly limits the use and circulation of personal information, extending its provisions to service providers responsible for handling personal data on behalf of businesses.
• Third Parties: If an organization has actual knowledge that it is selling or disclosing the personal information of Californian consumers, it is also subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This pertains to businesses that sell or share personal information for commercial purposes.
• Non-Profits and For-Profits: Organizations that meet the requirements are subject to the CCPA, which applies to both for-profit and non-profit entities.
• Extension of Data Protection: The CCPA’s reach goes beyond California’s boundaries. It potentially impacts companies and institutions that handle Californians’ personal data.

Adhering to the requirements are essential to ensure compliance and protect consumer privacy rights.

GDPR Law

The European Union’s GDPR is a data protection law that attempts to protect the personal information of its citizens.

• EU premises: Regardless of the location of data processing, firms with premises in the EU are subject to the GDPR. This applies to companies, organizations, or divisions that gather or handle personal data inside the EU.
• Non-EU Establishments: Businesses outside the EU that provide goods or services to EU citizens or monitor their conduct are likewise subject to the GDPR.
• Data Controllers and Processors: The GDPR covers both data categories. Data processors manage data on behalf of the controller, whereas data controllers choose the means and objectives of processing personal data.
• Data Subjects: The GDPR aims to safeguard the rights of EU data subjects, granting them authority over their personal information and guaranteeing that businesses process it securely and lawfully.
• Data Protection Officers: Companies that handle sensitive data or process substantial amounts of data must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) to supervise GDPR compliance.
• Consent and Transparency: The GDPR mandates that companies acquire explicit consent before processing personal data and that they maintain openness regarding the methods by which they gather, utilize, and retain personal information.
• Data Transfers: The GDPR regulates the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA, ensuring that sufficient protections are in place to secure the data when it leaves the EU’s jurisdiction.
• Accountability and Compliance: Entities governed by the GDPR must strictly adhere to its guidelines to ensure that all data processing operations are lawful, fair, and transparent.

Maintaining appropriate data protection procedures helps people and organizations by encouraging accountability and trust in data processing.

What Rights Do People Get Under CCPA and GDPR?

Customers have the following significant rights under the CCPA and GDPR:

People’s Rights For CCPA

Customers have the following significant data privacy rights under the CCPA:

• The Right to Know: Consumers have the right to know what personal data a company gathers about them and how that data is used.
• The Right to Delete: Consumers have the right to demand the removal of collected information, although this right is subject to limitations.
• The Right to Opt-Out: Individuals must be able to refuse the sale of their information to third parties.
• The Right to Non-Discrimination: The law prohibits companies from charging users extra for regular services if they exercise their CCPA rights. The exercise of CCPA rights can impact a company’s ability to offer services.

CCPA Example

Assume Dee visits privacy.example.com, a website that tracks user location and employs browser cookies. Dee lives in San Jose, California, and loads this webpage on her laptop. 

When Dee loads privacy.example.com, a banner informing her about the website’s usage of cookies and location data appears because she is in California. Dee has the right to know, which is why this occurs.

The banner also gives Dee an option: by selecting the “Do Not Sell My Personal Info” button, she can refuse to let privacy.example.com sell her location data to ad networks. 

Alternatively, she can consent to this data selling by clicking “Accept and Continue.” She is free to choose because she is entitled to do so.

Now imagine Dee prefers to keep her whereabouts as secret as possible, so she hits “Do Not Sell My Personal Info.” 

Dee is suddenly unable to watch videos or read articles on Privacy.example.com since all of the content has been restricted. 

This would violate the CCPA since Dee has the right to equal treatment. Privacy.example.com must offer her the same services at the same cost as other users who consent to sell their data.

People’s Rights For GDPR

Customers have the following significant data privacy rights under the GDPR:

• Right to Information: People have the right to get clear and understandable information about how their data is gathered and used.
• Right to Data Portability: The ability for people to move their data from one data controller to another is known as the right to data portability.
• Right of Access: People are entitled to a copy of any personal information that has been gathered.
• Right To Rectification: People are able to update false information about themselves.
• Right To Control Processing: In several situations, people have the ability to restrict how their personal data is handled.
• Right to Object: People have the ability to object to the collection and processing of their data, and data controllers and processors are required to give valid justifications for their use (reasons unrelated to direct marketing).
• Right to object to automated processing: People have the right to object to a legally binding decision that uses automated data processing.

How Does WP Legal Pages Plugin Help You Comply With Privacy Laws

Most individuals believe that to comply with CCPA or GDPR, they must schedule a meeting with an attorney and establish the privacy policies before they can be published. That is no longer the case.

You can now generate attorney-level privacy policies with the WP Legal Pages plugin. This free privacy policy generator can help you generate legal pages and comply with global privacy laws.

The plugin offers you 35+ fully customizable legal policy templates that you can use to make legal policies for your website. It also offers translations into other languages, including German, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

FAQ 

Conclusion 

In this CCPA vs GDPR review, we have tried to cover every point the law covers. 

However, with the prior consent of EU users, the GDPR is a more expansive and comprehensive privacy law that establishes a data protection framework within the EU where privacy is the default. It allows people in the EU to access, remove, revoke, and withdraw their consent.

The CCPA is a more narrowly focused sectoral law that gives Californian citizens decision-making rights over data that certain businesses (defined by the CCPA) have acquired. Residents can exercise these rights by requesting access to the data, requesting its deletion, or completely refusing to allow the business to sell the data it has collected to third parties.

The two statutes provide two quite different legal frameworks for data privacy and are fundamentally different from one another. We recommend using WP Legal Pages to stay compliant with these regulations.

If you loved reading this article, don’t forget to read our other engaging articles:

• What is Global Privacy Control (GPC) – A Beginner’s Guide  
• A Guide To Digital Markets Act: For Website Owners
• Do I Need A Privacy Policy On My Website? – Guide To Create One

Are you excited to create legal pages for your website and gain the trust of your visitors? Grab WP Legal Pages now!