Government and public statistics

California Civil Code section 1798.140 (CCPA definitions)

California Legislature, via california.public.law, 2018

Read on October 17, 2026

What it is: The text of the definitions section of the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the definitions of biometric information and sensitive personal information.
How much weight it carries: Statute text reproduced by a public legal reference site, not the official leginfo.legislature.ca.gov page, which blocked our fetch. The subsection letters have changed through amendments, so check the official text before citing a letter.

Facts taken from this source

The CCPA defines biometric information to include voice recordings, from which a template such as a voiceprint can be extracted.
“Biometric information includes, but is not limited to, imagery of the iris, retina, fingerprint, face, hand, palm, vein patterns, and voice recordings, from which an identifier template, such as a faceprint, a minutiae template, or a voiceprint, can be extracted” (Section 1798.140(c))
The CCPA lists as sensitive personal information the processing of biometric information for the purpose of uniquely identifying a consumer.
“The processing of biometric information for the purpose of uniquely identifying a consumer.” (Section 1798.140, sensitive personal information, paragraph (2)(A))