CCPA Privacy FAQs: Does the CCPA incorporate the definition of “personal information” from other statutes?

Yes.

The CCPA defines the phrase “personal information” as referring to any information that “identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household.”1 The CCPA goes on to provide a non-exhaustive list of data categories that might fall under that broad definition.  That list, however, incorporates categories of personal information from other statutes, including California Civil Code Section 1798.80(e), and some of the incorporated-by-reference categories are redundant to categories included elsewhere in the CCPA’s personal information definition.  The following identifies and de-duplicates the “categories” of personal information named, or cross-referenced, in the CCPA:

Category of Personal Information CCPA California Civil Code 1798.80(e) (integrated into CCPA via 1798.140(o)(B).
1.     Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information 1798.140(o)(1)(H)  
2.     Bank account number   1798.80(e)
3.     Biometric information 1798.140(o)(1)(E)  
4.     Commercial information (e.g., products or services purchased, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies) 1798.140(o)(1)(D)  
5.     Credit card number   1798.80(e)
6.     Debit card number   1798.80(e)
7.     Driver’s License Number / State ID   1798.80(e)
8.     Education 1798.140(o)(1)(J) (within the scope of FERPA) 1798.80(e)
9.     Electronic network activity (e.g., browsing history) 1798.140(o)(1)(F)  
10.  Email address 1798.140(o)(1)(A)  
11.  Employment 1798.140(o)(1)(D) 1798.80(e)
12.  Employment history 1798.140(o)(1)(I) 1798.80(e)
13.  Geolocation data 1798.140(o)(1)(G)  
14.  Health insurance information   1798.80(e)
15.  Identifiers (e.g., name or alias) 1798.140(o)(1)(A)  
16.  Insurance Policy Number   1798.80(e)
17.  Medical information   1798.80(e)
18.  Online identifier (e.g. IP address) 1798.140(o)(1)(A)  
19.  Other financial information   1798.80(e)
20.  Passport Number 1798.140(o)(1)(A) 1798.80(e)
21.  Physical Characteristics   1798.80(e)
22.  Postal address 1798.140(o)(1)(A) 1798.80(e)
23.  Signature   1798.80(e)
24.  Social Security Number 1798.140(o)(1)(A) 1798.80(e)
25.  Telephone Number   1798.80(e)
26.  Transaction information 1798.140(o)(1)(D)