What you should know about how Oregon's laws may affect your company's use of Artificial Intelligence (Attorney General guidance, December 24, 2024)

Summary

Guidance from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, prepared by Department of Justice staff, explaining that Oregon's existing consumer protection, privacy and anti-discrimination laws apply to businesses that develop, sell or use AI. Under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act, it gives examples of AI-related violations, including AI-generated fake reviews or false price-reduction claims, and states that using AI to set prices automatically does not excuse price gouging during a declared emergency. Under the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act, it says developers must disclose the use of personal data to train AI, obtain consent for sensitive data and new uses, honor the opt-out from profiling in decisions with legal or similarly significant effects such as housing, education or lending, and conduct data protection assessments before profiling. Under the Oregon Equality Act, it gives the example of an AI mortgage approval system that denies loans to qualified applicants from certain neighborhoods or ethnic backgrounds because it was trained on biased data. The guidance explains existing law and is not legal advice.

Key dates

1. 2024-12-24 (date of issue)Takes effect
2. October 16, 2026Checked against sources
3. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: January 15, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. There may not be laws with the heading “AI,” but our state’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act, Consumer Privacy Act, and Equality Act, among others, all have roles to play.

   Supports: Issuer and laws covered

   The fact that a business uses AI to automatically set prices based on market demand does not change the fact that a business may not sell essential consumer goods or services (such as lodging, for example) for an unconscionably excessive price during a declared emergency.

   Supports: AI pricing under the anti-price-gouging law

   consumers be given the opportunity to opt-out of the use of AI models for profiling in decisions that have legal or similarly significant impacts like housing, education, or lending.

   Supports: Profiling opt-out applied to AI

   entities are also required to conduct Data Protection Assessments before processing personal data for purposes of profiling or any activity that presents a heightened risk of harm to consumers

   Supports: Assessments for profiling

   uses an AI mortgage approval system that consistently denies loans to qualified applicants from certain neighborhoods or ethnic backgrounds because the AI system was trained on historically biased data, that company may violate the act.

   Supports: Algorithmic discrimination in lending under the Equality Act

   This guidance is intended to clarify that Oregon’s existing consumer protection, data privacy, and anti-discrimination laws fully apply to AI models.

   Supports: Purpose

   Guidance from Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (December 24, 2024) Oregon Department of Justice Primary source