What is the CCPA right to know?

The right to know is where a consumer asks the blunt question: what do you actually have on me, and who did you give it to? The CCPA answers it in two sections. Section 1798.110 covers what you collected and hold, and Section 1798.115 covers what you sold or shared. Together they decide what you must hand back, and Section 1798.130 sets how fast and how far back.

What can a consumer ask you to disclose?

Under California Civil Code section 1798.110(a), a consumer can request that you disclose five things: the categories of personal information you collected about them, the categories of sources it came from, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing it, the categories of third parties you disclose it to, and the specific pieces of personal information you collected. The last one matters most in practice, because it moves the request from generic categories to the actual data tied to that person. That is also why verification is not optional.

What about data you sold or shared?

Section 1798.115 handles the other half. A consumer can ask a business that sells or shares their personal information, or discloses it for a business purpose, to disclose the categories of personal information collected, the categories sold or shared together with the categories of third parties who received them, and the categories disclosed for a business purpose with the categories of persons who received those. If you never sell or share, the answer is short, but you still have to give it. The right pairs naturally with the Do Not Sell or Share request that stops the flow going forward.

How fast, and how far back?

Section 1798.130 sets the mechanics for both sections. You deliver the required information free of charge within 45 days of a verifiable consumer request, extendable once by another 45 days when reasonably necessary and with notice. The disclosure covers the 12-month period preceding your receipt of the request. You also have to make at least two methods available for submitting a request, including a toll-free telephone number, unless you operate exclusively online and have a direct relationship with the consumer, in which case an email address will do. The upfront notice at collection is what tells consumers this right exists.

How it fits your other CCPA duties

Knowing is the first of the linked consumer rights. A consumer who can ask what you hold can then ask you to delete it or correct it. Building one verified request-handling process for all of them, answered inside the same 45-day clock, is far less work than treating each right as its own project.

Next step

If you are not sure you can assemble a consumer's categories and specific pieces within 45 days, the free 2-minute Obligation Scan checks whether the CCPA applies to you and lists the disclosure duties you owe. The California privacy overview explains the thresholds, and the US state privacy laws hub shows how these rights compare with other states.