Key Takeaways

  • Outlines basic steps to determine whether a business may need to perform a risk assessment under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in connection with its use of dashcams
  • Provide a resource for exploring the basic requirements for conducting and reporting risk assessments

If you have not reviewed the recently approved, updated CCPA regulations, you might want to soon. There are several new requirements, along with many modifications and clarifications to existing rules. In this post, we discuss a new requirement – performing risk assessments – in the context of dashcam and related fleet management technologies.

In short, when performing a risk assessment, the business needs to assess whether the risk to consumer privacy from the processing of personal information outweighs the benefits to consumers, the business, others, and the public, and, if so, restricting or prohibiting that processing, as appropriate.

Of course, the first step to determine whether a business needs to perform a risk assessment under the CCPA is to determine whether the CCPA applies to the business. We discussed those basic requirements in Part 1 of our post on risk assessments under the CCPA.

If you are still reading, you have probably determined that your organization is a “business” covered by the CCPA and, possibly, your business is using certain fleet management technologies, such as dashcam or other vehicle tracking technologies. Even if that is not the case, the remainder of this post may be of interest for “businesses” under the CCPA that are curious about examples applying the new risk assessment requirement.

As discussed in Part 1 of our post on the basics of CCPA risk assessments, businesses are required to perform risk assessments when their processing of personal information presents “significant risk” to consumer privacy. The regulations set out certain types of processing activities involving personal information that would trigger a risk assessment. Depending on the nature and scope of the dashcam technology deployed, a business should consider whether a risk assessment is required.

Dashcams and similar devices increasingly come with an array of features. As the name suggests, these devices include cameras that can record activity inside and outside the vehicle. They also can be equipped with audio recording capabilities permitting the recording of voice in and outside the vehicle. Additionally, dashcams can play a role in logistics, as they often include GPS technology, and they can contribute significantly to worker and public safety through telematics. In general, telematics help businesses understand how the vehicle is being driven – acceleration, hard stops, swerving, etc. More recently, dashcams can have biometrics and AI technologies embedded in them. A facial scan can help determine if the driver is authorized to be driving that vehicle. AI technology also might be used to help determine if the driver is driving safely – is the driver falling asleep, eating, using their phone, wearing a seatbelt, and so on.

Depending on how a dashcam is equipped or configured, businesses subject to the CCPA should consider whether the dashcam involves the processing of personal information that requires a risk assessment.

For instance, a risk assessment is required when processing “sensitive personal information.” Remember that sensitive personal information includes, among other elements, precise geolocation data and biometric information for identifying an individuals. While the regulations include an exception for certain employment-related processing, businesses would have to assess whether those apply.

Another example of processing personal information that requires a risk assessment is profiling a consumer through “systematic observation” of that consumer when they are acting in their capacity as an educational program applicant, job applicant, student, employee, or independent contractor for the business. The regulations define “systematic observation” to mean:

methodical and regular or continuous observation. This includes, for example, methodical and regular or continuous observation using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth tracking, radio frequency identification, drones, video or audio recording or live-streaming, technologies that enable physical or biological identification or profiling; and geofencing, location trackers, or license-plate recognition.

The regulation also defines profiling as:

any form of automated processing of personal information to evaluate certain personal aspects (including intelligence, ability, aptitude, predispositions) relating to a natural person and in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health (including mental health), personal preferences, interests, reliability, predispositions, behavior, location, or movements.

Considering the range of use cases for vehicle/fleet tracking technologies, and depending on their capabilities and configurations, it is conceivable that in some cases the processing of personal information by such technology could be considered a “significant risk,” requiring a risk assessment under the CCPA.

In that case, Part 2 of our post on risk assessments outlines the steps a business needs to take to conduct a risk assessment, including what must be included in the required risk assessment report, and timely certifying the assessment to the California Privacy Protection Agency.

It is important to note that this is only one of a myriad of potential processing activities that businesses engage in that might trigger a risk assessment requirement. Businesses will need to identify those activities and assess next steps. If the business finds comparable activities, it may be able to minimize the risk assessment burden, by conducting a single assessment for those comparable activities.

Again, the new CCPA regulations represent a fundamental shift toward proactive privacy governance under the CCPA. Rather than simply reacting to consumer requests and data breaches, covered businesses must now systematically evaluate and document the privacy implications of their data processing activities before they begin. With compliance deadlines approaching in 2026, organizations should begin now to establish the cross-functional processes, documentation practices, and governance structures necessary to meet these new obligations.

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Photo of Joseph J. Lazzarotti Joseph J. Lazzarotti

Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a principal in the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He founded and currently co-leads the firm’s Privacy, Data and Cybersecurity practice group, edits the firm’s Privacy Blog, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)…

Joseph J. Lazzarotti is a principal in the Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He founded and currently co-leads the firm’s Privacy, Data and Cybersecurity practice group, edits the firm’s Privacy Blog, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Trained as an employee benefits lawyer, focused on compliance, Joe also is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits practice group.

In short, his practice focuses on the matrix of laws governing the privacy, security, and management of data, as well as the impact and regulation of social media. He also counsels companies on compliance, fiduciary, taxation, and administrative matters with respect to employee benefit plans.

Privacy and cybersecurity experience – Joe counsels multinational, national and regional companies in all industries on the broad array of laws, regulations, best practices, and preventive safeguards. The following are examples of areas of focus in his practice:

  • Advising health care providers, business associates, and group health plan sponsors concerning HIPAA/HITECH compliance, including risk assessments, policies and procedures, incident response plan development, vendor assessment and management programs, and training.
  • Coached hundreds of companies through the investigation, remediation, notification, and overall response to data breaches of all kinds – PHI, PII, payment card, etc.
  • Helping organizations address questions about the application, implementation, and overall compliance with European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, in particular, its implications in the U.S., together with preparing for the California Consumer Privacy Act.
  • Working with organizations to develop and implement video, audio, and data-driven monitoring and surveillance programs. For instance, in the transportation and related industries, Joe has worked with numerous clients on fleet management programs involving the use of telematics, dash-cams, event data recorders (EDR), and related technologies. He also has advised many clients in the use of biometrics including with regard to consent, data security, and retention issues under BIPA and other laws.
  • Assisting clients with growing state data security mandates to safeguard personal information, including steering clients through detailed risk assessments and converting those assessments into practical “best practice” risk management solutions, including written information security programs (WISPs). Related work includes compliance advice concerning FTC Act, Regulation S-P, GLBA, and New York Reg. 500.
  • Advising clients about best practices for electronic communications, including in social media, as well as when communicating under a “bring your own device” (BYOD) or “company owned personally enabled device” (COPE) environment.
  • Conducting various levels of privacy and data security training for executives and employees
  • Supports organizations through mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations with regard to the handling of employee and customer data, and the safeguarding of that data during the transaction.
  • Representing organizations in matters involving inquiries into privacy and data security compliance before federal and state agencies including the HHS Office of Civil Rights, Federal Trade Commission, and various state Attorneys General.

Benefits counseling experience – Joe’s work in the benefits counseling area covers many areas of employee benefits law. Below are some examples of that work:

  • As part of the Firm’s Health Care Reform Team, he advises employers and plan sponsors regarding the establishment, administration and operation of fully insured and self-funded health and welfare plans to comply with ERISA, IRC, ACA/PPACA, HIPAA, COBRA, ADA, GINA, and other related laws.
  • Guiding clients through the selection of plan service providers, along with negotiating service agreements with vendors to address plan compliance and operations, while leveraging data security experience to ensure plan data is safeguarded.
  • Counsels plan sponsors on day-to-day compliance and administrative issues affecting plans.
  • Assists in the design and drafting of benefit plan documents, including severance and fringe benefit plans.
  • Advises plan sponsors concerning employee benefit plan operation, administration and correcting errors in operation.

Joe speaks and writes regularly on current employee benefits and data privacy and cybersecurity topics and his work has been published in leading business and legal journals and media outlets, such as The Washington Post, Inside Counsel, Bloomberg, The National Law Journal, Financial Times, Business Insurance, HR Magazine and NPR, as well as the ABA Journal, The American Lawyer, Law360, Bender’s Labor and Employment Bulletin, the Australian Privacy Law Bulletin and the Privacy, and Data Security Law Journal.

Joe served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Laura Denvir Stith on the Missouri Court of Appeals.

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