BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 568 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 568 (Steinberg) As Amended August 15, 2013 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :37-0 ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS 5-1 JUDICIARY 10-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Ian Calderon, Bloom, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, | | |Brown, Gomez, Levine | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, | | | | |Garcia, Gorell, | | | | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, | | | | |Stone | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Wilk | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Prohibits, as of January 1, 2015, the operator of an Internet Web site or online service, online application, or mobile application from marketing certain kinds of products or services to a minor, and permits a minor to remove posted personal information, as specified. Specifically, this bill : 1)Prohibits the operator of an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application that is directed to minors from marketing or advertising specified products or services on its Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application. If marketing or advertising is provided by an advertising service, the operator shall notify the advertising service that the site, service, or application is directed to minors, and the advertising service shall be prohibited from marketing or advertising the specified products or services. 2)Prohibits the operator of an Internet Web site, online service, or application from marketing or advertising specified products or services to a minor if the operator has actual knowledge that a minor is using the operator's Web site, service, or application and the marketing or advertising is specifically directed to that minor based on information specific to that minor. Provides that an operator shall be SB 568 Page 2 deemed in compliance with this provision if the operator takes reasonable actions in good faith to avoid marketing or advertising the specified products or services. 3)Prohibits an operator of an Internet Web site, online service, or application directed to minors or who has actual knowledge that a minor is using the operator's site, service, or application from using, disclosing, compiling, or allowing a third party to use, disclose, or compile, the personal information of a minor with actual knowledge that such use, disclosure or compilation is for the purpose of marketing or advertising specified products or services. 4)Applies the above restrictions to the following products and services, which existing law prohibits a minor from purchasing: alcoholic beverages; firearms, handguns, or ammunition; handgun safety certificates; aerosol paints or etching creams that are capable of defacing property; tobacco products or controlled substances; BB devices; ultraviolet tanning devices; dietary supplements containing ephedrine; lottery tickets; salvia divinorum or Salvinorin A, or products containing the same; body branding; permanent tattoo; drug paraphernalia; electronic cigarettes; obscene matter; a less lethal weapon, as defined. 5)Specifies that the above restrictions shall not apply to incidental placement of products or services embedded in content if the content is not created primarily for the purpose of marketing and advertising of the restricted services and products. 6)Provides that nothing in this bill shall be construed to require an operator of an Internet Web site, online service, or application to collect or retain information about users. 7)Uses the following definitions for purposes of the provisions of this bill: a) "Minor" means a natural person less than 18 years of age who resides in the state. b) "Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application directed to minors" means a site, service, or application that is created for the purpose of SB 568 Page 3 reaching an audience that is predominantly composed of minors, and is not intended for a more general audience comprised of adults. However, a site, service, or application shall not be deemed to be directed to minors solely because it refers or links to a site, service, or application directed to minors. c) "Marketing or advertising" means, in exchange for monetary compensation, to make a communication to one or more individuals, or to arrange for the dissemination to the public of a communication, about a product or service the primary purpose of which is to encourage recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service. d) "Operator" means any person or entity that owns an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application. It does not include any third party that operates, hosts, or manages, but does not own, an Internet Web site, online service, online application, or mobile application on the owner's behalf or processes information on the owner's behalf. 8)Requires an operator of an Internet Web site, online service or application directed to minors, or an operator that has actual knowledge that a minor is using the site, service, or application, to permit a minor who is a registered user to remove content or information that the minor has posted, or to request that operator remove or anonymize the information. Specifies that the minor be notified of his or her right to request removal and that the notice contain clear instructions on how to do so. Provides that an operator would not be required to erase or eliminate information that was stored on or posted by a party other than the minor or if the operator is required by state or federal law to maintain the information. 9)Defines "posted" for purposes of the above provision to mean content or information that can be accessed by a user in addition to the minor who posted the content or information, whether or not the user is a registered user of the site, service, or application. FISCAL EFFECT : None SB 568 Page 4 COMMENTS : According to the author, "A large part of a child's social and emotional development is occurring while that child navigates through the digital world while online and through their cell phone. Young children and teens are still developing their critical thinking skills and judgment. We see examples in our homes and in the media of children having a tendency to reveal before they reflect. Existing state law does nothing to require that online operators permit minors to remove content or information they posted on the operator's site. Children should be allowed to erase that which they post because mistakes can follow a young person for a long time and impact their chances of getting into college and landing a job. This bill requires operators to permit children to delete what they post on the operator's website." Statistics cited by the author confirm what has become common knowledge: teen use of social networking and other online services, including the now pervasive "mobile apps," has expanded greatly in recent years. Moreover, the author believes that a minor's lack of maturity might make him or her more susceptible to aggressive marketing and more likely to post personal information online without always thinking about the consequences of doing so. Marketers are apparently aware that children and teens are avid consumers and susceptible to persuasion. For example, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that 4,123 "cookies" and other tracking devices were placed on a test computer that was used to visit the top 50 Web sites for children and teens, which was about 30% more than were placed on a test computer that visited sites that targeted a general audience. (See "On the Web, Children Face Intensive Tracking," Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2010.) This Bill Has Two Main Provisions : First, this bill will give minors the opportunity, subject to certain exceptions, to remove information that they have posted or stored on an Internet Web site, online service, or application. It should be noted, however, that "removal" will not necessarily mean to literally "remove" by deletion or erasure. Rather, an operator can comply with a "removal" request by hiding the posting so that no other users can see or access it, or by otherwise making the posting anonymous. Second, this bill prohibits the operator of the Internet Web site, online service, or application from targeting minors with SB 568 Page 5 advertisements for goods and services that they cannot legally purchase. Recent Amendments Appear to Address Opposition Concerns : The recent amendments remove most known opposition. The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) continues to have concerns, though CDT's earlier stated opposition seems to have been addressed by recent amendments. For example, recent amendments to the definition of a service "directed to minors" clarify that the bill's requirements will only apply to an Internet Web site that is directed "predominately" to minors, and the bill now expressly exempts Internet Web sites and services designed "for a more general audience comprised of adults." Similarly, CDT's concern that operations will be forced to seek more information to verify a user's age is potentially addressed by an amendment that expressly states that nothing in the bill shall be construed to require an operator to collect age information about users. Finally, one of CDT's principle objections appears to be that this bill should follow federal law in defining a "minor" as a person under the age of 13. However, the author is primarily concerned with the teens that most frequently use the Internet and social media services, the studies suggest that they are between the ages of 13 and 17. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. / (916) 319-3450 FN: 0001779