Data Privacy, Privacy

Employee Monitoring in a CPRA World: How to Stay Compliant in Remote Work

July 24, 2025

Remote and hybrid work have become standard for many businesses—but with this flexibility comes new challenges in monitoring productivity and securing company data. Employers often turn to tools that track keystrokes, screenshots, or even webcam activity. However, these practices raise serious privacy concerns under state privacy laws like the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

If your business has employees in California—or processes their data—you need to ensure your monitoring practices comply with the CPRA’s strict requirements.

What Does CPRA Mean for Employee Data?

The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which took effect on January 1, 2023, extended privacy rights beyond consumers to include employees, job applicants, contractors, and business partners.

Under CPRA, employees have the right to:

Know what personal information is collected and why.
Access and request deletion of their personal information.
Correct inaccurate data held by the employer.

Businesses must also:

Provide clear notice about monitoring practices and purposes.
Limit data collection to what’s necessary for business functions.
Protect collected data with reasonable security measures.

Why This Matters for Businesses

Monitoring employees without following CPRA requirements can lead to severe legal and financial consequences:

Penalties and Lawsuits
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) enforces CPRA and can impose fines of up to $7,500 per violation. In addition, employees could exercise a private right of action for certain data breaches.
Reputation and Trust
Excessive or undisclosed monitoring erodes employee trust and can damage your brand image, making it harder to attract and retain top talent.
Compliance Risk Beyond California
Other states are introducing similar protections, meaning non-compliance could have broader consequences as privacy laws continue to evolve.

How Curated Privacy LLC Can Help Your Business Stay Compliant

At Curated Privacy LLC, we help organizations create a balance between employee monitoring and legal compliance. Our services include:

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) for remote work tools and monitoring systems.
Employee Privacy Policy Development tailored to CPRA and other state laws.
Compliance Training for HR and IT teams.
Ongoing Regulatory Monitoring to keep you ahead of changing requirements.

Our goal is to help you protect your business from penalties while maintaining employee trust—because privacy isn’t just a legal issue; it’s a business advantage.