Shopper Loyalty Rewards Threatened by California Privacy Law (1)

The free-cups-of-coffee and 10-percent-off coupons that frequent shoppers prize may be at risk of disappearing in California as businesses evaluate whether they can keep customer loyalty programs under the state’s new privacy law.

Parts of the California Consumer Protection Act alter the basis of loyalty programs: that customers trade valuable data about themselves in return for discounts. Starting in January, Californians will be able to request that their consumer data be deleted, and they’ll be able to stop companies from selling the information to third parties.

Companies in most cases won’t be able to offer different prices or discounts to ...