BILL ANALYSIS �
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
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|Ayes:|Ian Calderon, Bloom, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |
| |Brown, Gomez, Levine | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, |
| | | |Garcia, Gorell, |
| | | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, |
| | | |Stone |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wilk | | |
| | | | |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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