The California Privacy Protection Agency is slated to revisit its draft regulations for automated decision-making technology, including the use of artificial intelligence to process personal information, on March 8. The agency aims to enforce notice, opt-out, and access rights for California consumers and employees, effectively covering all systems that use personal information to make decisions, such as profiling.
Despite the broad coverage, the proposed regulations are restricted to certain business uses and shield various exceptions from the proposed opt-out and access rights. The regulations only apply to businesses for decisions having significant impact on a consumer, profiling a consumer acting in their own capacities such as employees, independent contract workers, job applicants, or students, or profiling consumers in public spaces.
In anticipation of the upcoming rulemaking, businesses can undertake five key action points to stay ahead.
- Businesses should determine if they use or plan to use automated decision-making technology (ADMT) in the three stipulated ways.
- If the usage of ADMT meets the thresholds, businesses should prepare a pre-use notice in line with the proposed Section 7017.
- Businesses need to evaluate whether any of the four proposed exceptions (security, fraud prevention, safety, and requested good or service) apply to their usage of ADMT.
- A strategy for allowing consumers to submit opt-out requests should be developed.
- Lastly, businesses should ensure that they comply with Section 7020 of the CCPA in their methods for accepting consumer access requests.
Overall, businesses operating within California need to be proactive in tracking these developments and providing input to the rulemaking process, ensuring that they are prepared to comply with future regulations. As the law continues to evolve in response to technological advances, clear communication and preemptive action will be crucial for businesses looking to stay compliant.
Acknowledgement to authors – Sushila Chanana, Vanessa K. Ing, Rodolfo E. Rivera Aquino all from Farella Braun + Martel.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of these esteemed authors, Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., or its owners.