BILL NUMBER: AB 1116	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection (Gatto
(Chair), Wilk (Vice Chair), Baker, Chang, Chau, Dahle, and Gordon)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Chapter 35 (commencing with Section 22948.20) to
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
business.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1116, as introduced, Committee on Privacy and Consumer
Protection. Connected televisions.
    Existing law makes it a crime for a person who owns, controls,
operates, or manages a satellite or cable television corporation to
use an electronic device to record, transmit, or observe any events
or listen to, record, or monitor any conversations that take place
inside a subscriber's residence, workplace, or place of business,
without obtaining the express written consent of the subscriber.
Existing law requires a device that includes an integrated and
enabled wireless access point that is sold as new in the state for
use in a small office, home office, or residential setting to be
manufactured to possess certain features and advisories, including,
among others, protection on the device that requires an affirmative
action by the consumer prior to allowing use of the product and an
advisory for the consumer regarding how to protect his or her
wireless network connection from unauthorized access.
   This bill would prohibit a manufacturer from producing for sale in
the state, or delivering to be offered for sale in the state, a
connected television, as defined, that offers voice recognition
technology that is capable of recording or transmitting audio to the
manufacturer or a 3rd party when any voice recognition technology is
not enabled or recording or transmitting any spoken words to the
manufacturer or a 3rd party, except for the specific voice commands
necessary to operate the voice recognition technology. This bill
would prohibit a waiver of these prohibitions and authorize their
enforcement by injunction or civil penalty in a court of competent
jurisdiction by the Attorney General or a district attorney. This
bill specifies that its provisions shall not be deemed to create a
private right of action. This bill would provide that these
provisions are severable.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 35 (commencing with Section 22948.20) is added
to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 35.  CONNECTED TELEVISIONS


   22948.20.  For purposes of this chapter, "connected television"
shall mean a television set or set-top box with integrated Internet
features.
   22948.21.  A manufacturer shall not produce for sale in the state,
or deliver to be offered for sale in the state, a connected
television that offers voice recognition technology that is capable
of either of the following:
   (1) Recording or transmitting audio, including, but not limited
to, an individual's conversation, to the manufacturer or a third
party when any voice recognition technology is not enabled.
   (2) Recording or transmitting any spoken words to the manufacturer
or a third party, except for the specific voice commands necessary
to operate the voice recognition technology.
   22948.22.  Any waiver of the prohibitions in Section 22948.21 is
contrary to public policy and void and unenforceable.
   22948.23.  (a) Actions for relief pursuant to this chapter may be
prosecuted exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction in a
civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of
California by the Attorney General or by any district attorney. This
chapter shall not be deemed to create a private right of action.
   (b) A court may enjoin a manufacturer that engages, has engaged,
or proposes to engage, in a violation of this chapter. The court may
make any orders or judgments as may be necessary to prevent a
violation of this chapter.
   (c) A manufacturer that engages, has engaged, or proposes to
engage, in a violation of this chapter shall be liable for a civil
penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for
each connected television in violation of this chapter. If the action
is brought by the Attorney General, the penalty shall be deposited
into the General Fund. If the action is brought by a district
attorney, the penalty shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in
which the judgment was entered.
   22948.24.  The remedies or penalties provided by this chapter are
cumulative to each other and to the remedies or penalties available
under all other laws of the state.
   22948.25.  The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any
provision of this chapter or its application are held to be invalid,
that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications
that can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application.