An Unlikely Industry That Could Be Snared By The CCPA

Just how wide is the reach of the California Consumer Protection Act? Could it apply to companies that only incidentally collect and process personal information in the course of operating drones? Does advanced facial recognition software mean that some images picked up by drone cameras are “personal information” because they then can be identified? (That is, in the language of the statute, “reasonably” associated with a consumer or household?) This article from trade publication “DroneLife” considers the possibilities. The problem, or potential problem, arises, according to author-attorneys from Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, “because the CCPA defines ‘personal information’ very broadly, whereas exceptions to the definition – such as publicly available information and de-identified information – are defined quite narrowly.”