The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) imposes strict restrictions on the collection and processing of information about California residents. If you are engaged in scraping marketplaces, monitoring competitor prices, or collecting public data through proxies, it is crucial to understand the legal requirements and methods for compliance.
In this guide, we will explore the practical aspects of working with proxies in the context of CCPA: what data can be collected, how to set up processes to comply with the law, and how to avoid fines of up to $7,500 for violations.
What is CCPA and Who the Law Applies To
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a California law that took effect on January 1, 2020. It is one of the strictest privacy laws in the U.S., often compared to the European GDPR. In 2023, the law was strengthened by amendments from the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).
CCPA applies to commercial organizations that collect personal data from California residents and meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Annual revenue exceeds $25 million
- The company processes personal data of 100,000+ consumers, households, or devices annually
- 50% or more of revenue comes from selling consumers' personal data
An important point: the law applies to companies regardless of their location. If you operate from Russia, Kazakhstan, or Ukraine but collect data from California residents ā CCPA applies to your activities.
Practical Example: If you are scraping data from American marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Walmart) or collecting information on competitor prices in the U.S., there is a high likelihood that some of this data includes information about California residents.
What Data is Considered Personal Under CCPA
CCPA defines personal information very broadly ā it includes any data that identifies, relates to, describes, or can be reasonably linked to a specific consumer or household. The list includes more than 10 categories of data.
| Data Category | Examples | Risk When Scraping |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Name, email, phone, IP address, cookie ID | High |
| Commercial Information | Purchase history, product preferences | Medium |
| Internet Activity Data | Browsing history, search queries, website interactions | High |
| Geolocation Data | Physical location, GPS coordinates | Medium |
| Biometric Data | Fingerprints, facial recognition | Low |
| Professional Information | Job title, employer, employment history | Medium |
Key point: even if you are not directly collecting names and emails, IP addresses and cookies transmitted when using proxies are already considered personal identifiers under CCPA.
How Proxy Usage Relates to CCPA Requirements
Proxy servers themselves do not violate CCPA ā they are a technical tool for routing traffic. Issues arise not from using proxies, but from what data you collect through them and how you process that data.
Typical scenarios for proxy usage where CCPA compliance questions arise:
1. Scraping Marketplaces and E-commerce Sites
When you collect product data from Amazon, Walmart, eBay through residential proxies, you may inadvertently collect personal information: customer reviews with names, user ratings, customer questions. If these users are California residents, CCPA applies.
2. Monitoring Competitor Prices
When monitoring prices through proxies, you may see personalized prices based on geolocation and user history. Collecting such data may fall under the definition of processing commercial information of consumers.
3. Collecting Data from Social Media
Scraping public profiles on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn through proxies for marketing research is a direct collection of personal data. Even if the profiles are public, CCPA requires compliance with certain rules.
The use of proxies complicates the situation by masking your true identity and location. From the perspective of CCPA, this is not a violation in itself, but if you are collecting personal data covertly and do not provide consumers with the option to opt-out of data collection ā that is a problem.
Legal Methods of Data Collection Through Proxies
CCPA does not prohibit data collection entirely ā the law regulates transparency, consumer control over their data, and the purposes for using the information. Here are methods that help you stay within the law when working with proxies.
Method 1: Collect Only Public Non-Personal Data
Focus on data that does not identify specific individuals:
- Product prices without user association
- Aggregated statistics (average product rating, number of reviews)
- Technical specifications of products
- Availability of products in warehouses
- Public data about companies (not individuals)
When scraping marketplaces through proxies, configure scripts to ignore blocks with user content: reviews with names, customer questions, user profiles.
Method 2: Anonymization and Data Aggregation
If you need to collect data that may contain personal information, immediately anonymize it:
- Automatically remove names, emails, and phone numbers from collected data
- Replace exact IP addresses with ranges or regions
- Aggregate data: instead of "user John bought product X" ā "product X was purchased 150 times"
- Use hashing for identifiers if they are necessary for analytics
Important: anonymization must be irreversible. If you can restore personal data from an anonymized dataset ā CCPA still applies.
Method 3: Compliance with robots.txt and Terms of Service
While this is not a direct requirement of CCPA, adhering to site rules demonstrates good faith:
- Check the robots.txt file before scraping ā many sites explicitly prohibit the collection of certain data
- Read the Terms of Service of target sites ā there may be restrictions on automated data collection
- Use reasonable delays between requests through proxies (rate limiting)
- Identify your bot through User-Agent if possible
Method 4: Transparency and Documenting Purposes
CCPA requires companies to be transparent about data collection:
- Document what data you collect and for what purposes
- If you have a website ā post a Privacy Policy describing data collection practices
- Store data only as long as necessary for the stated purposes
- Do not sell collected data to third parties without explicit consent
Practical Advice: If you are using data center proxies for scraping, document the process: what you scrape, how you filter personal data, how long you store information. This will help in case of an audit.
Public Data vs Personal Information: Where is the Line
One of the most common questions: "If data is publicly available on the internet, can it be freely collected?" CCPA does not make exceptions for public data ā if the information identifies a California resident, it falls under the law.
| Type of Data | Public Access | CCPA Applies | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Prices | Yes | No | Safe to scrape |
| Reviews with User Names | Yes | Yes | Remove names when collecting |
| Emails from Public LinkedIn Profiles | Yes | Yes | High risk, avoid |
| Aggregated Sales Statistics | Yes | No | Safe to scrape |
| IP Addresses of Website Visitors | No (technical data) | Yes | Requires Privacy Policy |
| Public Instagram Posts | Yes | Depends on content | Anonymize authors |
The key rule: the public nature of data does not negate its status as personal information. If you collect public data that identifies individuals, CCPA applies. The only difference is that it is easier to justify "legitimate interest" as a basis for processing public data.
Exceptions to CCPA
The law provides several exceptions when data is not considered personal information:
- Publicly available information from government sources (state registries, court records)
- De-identified data that cannot be linked to a specific consumer
- Aggregated consumer information
- Data collected for scientific research while adhering to ethical standards
CCPA Compliance Checklist for Data Scraping
Use this checklist before launching any data collection project through proxies if your target audience or data sources are related to California:
ā Planning Stage
- Determine what specific data you need and whether it is personal under CCPA
- Assess whether your company falls under CCPA (revenue, data volume criteria)
- Document the legal basis for data collection (legitimate interest, contract, consent)
- Check the Terms of Service of target sites for scraping restrictions
ā Technical Setup Stage
- Set up filters to automatically remove personal identifiers (names, emails, phones)
- Use residential proxies with rotation to minimize traces
- Implement rate limiting to comply with robots.txt
- Set up automatic anonymization of IP addresses and other identifiers
- Store collected data in encrypted form
ā Documentation Stage
- Create a Privacy Policy outlining data collection practices (if you have a website or service)
- Document procedures for handling consumer requests for data deletion
- Maintain a log of data processing: what was collected, when, for what purpose
- Establish data retention periods and automatic deletion procedures
ā Operational Stage
- Regularly check collected data for personal information
- Do not sell or transfer data to third parties without explicit consent
- Update the Privacy Policy when data collection practices change
- Train your team on CCPA basics and data handling procedures
- Set up a mechanism for processing consumer requests for access/deletion of data
Proxy Setup to Minimize Legal Risks
Proper proxy setup does not guarantee CCPA compliance, but it helps minimize risks and demonstrates good faith in case of an audit.
Choosing Proxy Type Based on Task
| Proxy Type | Best For | CCPA Risks |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Proxies | Scraping marketplaces, collecting public data from social media | Medium ā appear as regular users |
| Mobile Proxies | Collecting data from mobile apps, checking geo-targeting | Medium ā high anonymity |
| Data Center Proxies | Mass scraping of non-personal data (prices, availability) | Low ā if not collecting personal data |
Proxy Settings for Legal Compliance
1. IP Rotation: Use automatic IP rotation to distribute load and avoid linking collected data to a single identifier. This complicates user profiling.
2. Geographical Targeting: If you are NOT working with data from California residents, configure proxies to exclude California IPs. Most proxy providers allow you to choose regions.
3. Request Logging: Keep logs of all requests through proxies with timestamps. This will help demonstrate compliance with rate limiting and absence of abuse in case of an audit.
4. User-Agent and Identification: Some lawyers recommend using an honest User-Agent that identifies your scraper (e.g., "MyCompanyBot/1.0"). This demonstrates transparency, although it may increase the risk of blocks.
Important: Using mobile proxies to bypass blocks is not a violation of CCPA in itself, but if you bypass protections to collect personal data without consent ā this may qualify as a violation.
Penalties for Violating CCPA and Real Cases
CCPA provides for two types of penalties: administrative (from the California Attorney General) and civil lawsuits from consumers.
Penalty Amounts
- Administrative Penalties: up to $2,500 for each unintentional violation, up to $7,500 for each intentional violation
- Civil Lawsuits: $100-$750 for each consumer per incident of data breach (or actual damages if higher)
- Class Action Lawsuits: in the event of a data breach affecting thousands of users, the amount can reach millions of dollars
Real CCPA Violation Cases
Sephora ā $1.2 Million Fine (2022)
The company sold consumers' personal data to third parties without providing an opt-out option. This was the first major fine for violating CCPA. Lesson: if you collect data and share it with anyone ā this is considered "sale" under CCPA, requiring notification.
DoorDash ā Class Action Lawsuit (2020)
A data breach affecting 4.9 million users led to a class action lawsuit under CCPA. Although the case was settled out of court, it showed that even startups can face serious consequences.
Clearview AI ā Ongoing Investigations
The company collected photos from social media (public data) to create a facial recognition database. Despite the public nature of the data, Clearview has faced numerous lawsuits, including allegations of violating CCPA. Lesson: even collecting public personal data can lead to problems.
For small and medium-sized businesses, the risk of fines is real if you meet the CCPA criteria. The California Attorney General actively investigates consumer complaints, and since 2023, a special agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), has been established to oversee compliance with the law.
How to Reduce the Risk of Fines
- Conduct a data audit: what you collect, how you store it, who you share it with
- Implement procedures for handling consumer requests (access, deletion, opt-out of data sale)
- Post a Privacy Policy on your website detailing data collection practices
- Train your team on CCPA basics and response procedures
- Consider cyber risk insurance covering privacy violation fines
- When in doubt ā consult a lawyer specializing in privacy law
Conclusion
CCPA imposes serious requirements on companies collecting personal data from California residents, regardless of whether you use proxies or not. The key principles of compliance with the law are transparency of data collection purposes, minimizing the volume of personal information, providing consumers with control over their data, and secure storage.
Using proxies for data collection is legal if you focus on non-personal information or immediately anonymize personal data. Document your processes, comply with the Terms of Service of target platforms, and be prepared to justify the legality of your actions.
Remember: penalties for violating CCPA can reach millions of dollars, but most issues can be avoided with proper setup of data collection and processing processes. Investments in compliance pay off by protecting against legal risks and building user trust.
If you plan to collect data from American sources, we recommend using residential proxies with geographical selection options ā this will allow you to exclude California IPs from rotation or, conversely, collect data specifically by regions in accordance with your business tasks and legal requirements.