California AG Says Privacy Laws Cover Citizens on AI Risks
State privacy laws offer Californians broad AI protection, said Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) in legal guidance released Monday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
“Data is the bedrock underlying the massive growth in AI, and Californians’ broad privacy and data rights directly impact AI systems, whether through the data used to build and train AI, or through the information that may be exposed by AI outputs,” the guidance said. “Developers and entities that use AI must carefully monitor AI systems’ training data, inputs, and outputs to ensure that Californians’ constitutional right to privacy is respected.”
In addition, the California Consumer Protection Act's (CCPA) coverage of personal information may include “inferences about consumers made by AI systems,” the paper said. “AI developers and users that collect and use Californians’ personal information must comply with CCPA’s protections for consumers, including by ensuring that their collection, use, retention, and sharing of consumer personal information is reasonably necessary and proportionate to achieve the purposes for which the personal information was collected and processed.”
“The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) may also impact AI training data, inputs, or outputs.” The act covers wiretapping and recording conversations without the consent of all parties. Other state laws, including the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, can also apply to AI.
Separate legal guidance on healthcare highlighted patient privacy as one potential risk of AI.
“Vast quantities of patient data underlie the massive growth in the health AI sector,” it said. “Data is used to build and train AI and to render decisions that impact health services. Developers and entities that use AI in healthcare should carefully monitor training data, inputs, and outputs to ensure respect for Californians’ rights to medical privacy.”
California medical privacy laws “provide protections that are, in some cases, more stringent than federal health privacy laws," such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.