Yesterday, TechFreedom filed comments to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) regarding its proposed regulations on Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT). Our comments highlighted how the agency’s proposal exceeds the scope of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), attempting to shoehorn AI regulations into a privacy law framework. To better align with the intent of California voters and lawmakers, the CPPA should narrow the proposed definition of “automated decision-making technology” to focus solely on automated technologies that directly affect consumer privacy.

“The proposed definition of ADMT is overly broad,” said Andy Jung, TechFreedom’s Associate Counsel. “The proposed ADMT regulations define automated decision-making so broadly as to cover virtually any software, including artificial intelligence. The CPPA should initiate a new round of public comment and solicit input on how to define ADMT and which specific automated technologies the regulations should apply to. At a minimum, the agency should amend and narrow the definition to make clear the ADMT regulations are limited to scenarios involving automated technologies processing consumers’ personal information in a manner which implicates or harms their privacy”

“The CCPA is a privacy law—not an artificial intelligence law,” Jung continued. “Prior to September of last year, the CCPA did not discuss artificial intelligence at all. That changed last year, when Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1008, which expanded the Act’s definition of ‘personal information’ to include ‘artificial intelligence systems that are capable of outputting personal information.’ Yet, even with the amendment, the Act’s focus remains squarely on consumers’ private information. Artificial intelligence is, at most, at the periphery.”

“These proposed regulations contravene Governor Newsom’s call for AI policy driven by experts in the field,” Jung concluded. “By contorting the CCPA into an AI law, the CPPA undermines Governor Newsom’s call for ‘a delicate balanceʼ to AI regulation led by experts and technologists.” 

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About TechFreedom:TechFreedom is a nonprofit, nonpartisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.

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