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Can I collect personal information from my customers in California in Virginia? What are the requirements?

Yes, you can collect personal information from your customers in California and Virginia, but you must comply with the requirements outlined in the relevant laws.

In California, you must comply with the requirements outlined in Section 1798.17 of the California Civil Code [2.3]. This includes providing notice to individuals about the collection of their personal information, including the purpose for which it will be used, whether submission of the information is mandatory or voluntary, and the consequences of not providing the information. The notice must also include the name of the agency and the division within the agency that is requesting the information, as well as the title, business address, and telephone number of the agency official who is responsible for the system of records and who shall, upon request, inform an individual regarding the location of his or her records and the categories of any persons who use the information in those records. Additionally, each agency must maintain in its records only personal information which is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency required or authorized by the California Constitution or statute or mandated by the federal government [2.1].

In Virginia, merchants are prohibited from selling to any third person information that concerns the purchaser and that is gathered in connection with the sale, rental, or exchange of tangible personal property to the purchaser at the merchant’s place of business, without giving notice to the purchaser [1.1]. However, this law does not apply to information gathered for purposes of extending credit or the recording and sale, rental, exchange or disclosure to others of information obtained from any public body as defined in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act [1.3]. Additionally, merchants are prohibited from scanning the machine-readable zone of a driver’s license or other document issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, except for certain purposes [1.2]. Merchants are also prohibited from selling or disseminating to a third party any information obtained from a scan of the machine-readable zone of an individual’s driver’s license or other document for any marketing, advertising, or promotional purpose [1.2].

Therefore, if you are collecting personal information from customers in California and Virginia, you must comply with the requirements outlined in both Section 1798.17 of the California Civil Code [2.3] and the relevant laws in Virginia [1.1][1.2][1.3].

Note that any person who willfully requests or obtains any record containing personal information from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than one year, or both [2.6].

Source(s):
Jurisdiction

Virginia, California