The Complete Guide to California ADMT Compliance (2027)

What Is ADMT?

Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) refers to any technology that processes personal information and uses computation to generate a decision, replace human decision-making, or substantially facilitate human decision-making. Under California's proposed regulations, this covers a wide range of AI and ML systems used in hiring, credit, insurance, healthcare, housing, and education.

Who Does This Apply To?

Any business that:

Operates in California or processes personal information of California residents

Uses automated technology to make, replace, or substantially facilitate "significant decisions" about consumers

Employs AI-powered screening, scoring, ranking, or recommendation tools in employment, credit, insurance, or housing contexts

If your company uses tools like HireVue for video interviews, FICO scores for lending decisions, or Verisk for insurance pricing — you're covered.

The Five Pillars of Compliance

1. AI System Inventory

You must maintain a complete inventory of every automated system that makes or facilitates significant decisions. This includes the system name, vendor, category of use, data inputs, decision outputs, and human oversight level.

2. Pre-Use Notices

Before using ADMT to make a significant decision about a consumer, you must provide clear, conspicuous notice that explains what the technology does, what data it uses, how the decision will be made, and how the consumer can opt out.

3. Consumer Opt-Out Rights

Consumers have the right to opt out of automated decision-making for significant decisions. You must provide a clear mechanism for exercising this right and must offer an alternative human-reviewed process.

4. Risk Assessments

Organizations must conduct and document risk assessments for each AI system, evaluating privacy risks, potential for bias, data security measures, and the adequacy of human oversight.

5. Decision Logic Documentation

You must be able to explain, in plain language, how each AI system arrives at its decisions — including the data inputs, the logic or algorithm used, the key factors that influence outcomes, and known limitations.

Timeline

Now through December 2026: Preparation period. Audit your AI systems, begin documentation.

January 1, 2027: Compliance deadline. All requirements must be met.

Ongoing: Maintain audit trails, update documentation as systems change, respond to consumer opt-out requests within required timeframes.

How RightToHuman Helps

RightToHuman automates the compliance workflow end-to-end. Register your AI systems, generate regulation-sourced pre-use notices with one click, manage consumer opt-out requests through a branded portal, conduct guided risk assessments, document decision logic, and maintain an append-only audit trail — all from a single dashboard.

The January 2027 deadline is approaching. Don't wait until it's too late.