Law note · Iowa
Iowa Consumer Data Protection Act, sensitive data and biometric data definitions
ICDPA classifies data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual orientation, or citizenship or immigration status (with a discrimination-avoidance carve-out not seen in the other six states in this batch), the processing of genetic or biometric data to uniquely identify a person, a known child's data, and precise geolocation data as sensitive data, but requires only an opt-out mechanism for sensitive-data processing rather than the opt-in consent every other state in this batch requires.
Genetic or biometric data collected to identify a person is itself an enumerated sensitive-data category (§ 715D.1(26)(b)), so biometric data is a heightened category here.
Separately, 'Biometric data' (§ 715D.1(4)) carries the same blanket, unconditional exclusion for recording-derived data as Virginia's VCDPA, word for word: no clawback for data generated to identify someone, so a voiceprint or faceprint extracted from a recording is not biometric data under ICDPA regardless of purpose, and therefore is not sensitive data either.
This document cites these definitions to § 715D.1, correcting an earlier draft's citation to § 715D.2, which is a different section (Scope and exemptions).
What it asks of an app
- Offer an Iowa consumer an opt-out mechanism before processing their sensitive data. Unlike most peer states in this batch, ICDPA does not require opt-in consent for this category.
- Do not treat an identifier derived solely from a photograph, video, or audio recording as ICDPA biometric data. The definition excludes any data generated from such a recording, with no exception for data generated to identify someone.
When LexLint raises it
Declared activities: processes_biometrics, processes_voice, crawls_web, trains_models
Primary source: official Iowa statute text, Iowa Code chapter 715D