Publicly Available Information

Information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records, or information that a business has a reasonable basis to believe has been lawfully made available to the general public through widely distributed media, by the individual themselves, or by someone authorized by the individual. Under CCPA § 1798.140(v)(2), such information is excluded from the definition of personal information. However, this exclusion is interpreted narrowly—information must be truly accessible to the general public without restriction, not merely theoretically obtainable. Biometric information collected without consent and information disclosed under confidentiality obligations doesn't qualify as publicly available even if subsequently made public. Organizations cannot compile non-public information to create new insights and claim the result is publicly available. Additionally, even if information qualifies as publicly available under one law, it may still be subject to other legal restrictions on use or disclosure, and organizations must consider the reasonableness of using publicly available information for purposes incompatible with its public availability.