The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) becomes operative on January 1, 2020. See Cal Civ. Code § 1798.100 et al. To date, the CCPA is the most sweeping consumer privacy law in the United States, covering most for-profit entities that do business in California and collect the personal information of California residents. The law assigns enforcement of its provisions to the California Attorney General, but it also provides a private right of action for data breaches along with statutory damages. In this primer, the Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler Privacy and Data Security team provides an overview of what businesses need to know about the CCPA, steps they can take now to prepare, and open questions under the CCPA that will bear on CCPA risk mitigation going forward.