BILL NUMBER: AB 1116	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 13, 2015

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

                        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 amended, 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 connected television sold or leased in
the state that is equipped with a voice recognition feature to use
spoken words or other sounds for any purpose not essential to the
function of the application for which the user enabled or utilized
the voice recognition feature, and further prohibit a person from
enabling or utilizing the voice recognition feature of a connected
television without the consent of the user, as specified. This bill
would require a connected television sold or leased in the state to
be equipped with mechanisms to control the use of the voice
recognition feature and indicate when it is collecting or
transmitting spoken words or other sounds. This bill would define
terms for its purposes. 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   or
limit any existing 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.  (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a connected
television sold or leased in the state that is equipped with a voice
recognition feature shall not be used to collect, record, store,
analyze, transmit, interpret, or otherwise use spoken words or other
sounds for any purpose not essential to the function of the
application for which the user enabled or utilized the voice
recognition feature. Purposes not essential to the function of an
application include, but are not limited to, advertising and the
analysis of household conversations.
   (b) (1) A person shall not enable or utilize the voice recognition
feature of a connected television sold or leased in the state
without the consent of the user, as set forth in paragraph (2).
   (2) Consent shall be received by means of a separate notice that
gives the user an opportunity to understand and choose the use of the
voice recognition feature before it is  enabled, including,
but not limited to, an interactive on-screen dialog.  
enabled.  Consent shall only be required at the time the voice
recognition feature is enabled, and not each time the user starts the
voice recognition feature.
   (c) A connected television sold or leased in the state that is
equipped with a voice recognition feature shall also be equipped with
all of the following:
   (1) A mechanism that requires a user to affirmatively choose the
use of the voice recognition feature, including, but not limited to,
a user setting.
   (2) A mechanism that allows a user to start and stop the voice
recognition feature for the purpose of operating the connected
television or using a specific software application on the 
television, including, but not limited to, a button or voice command.
  television. 
   (3) A mechanism that indicates to the user when the voice
recognition feature is collecting or transmitting spoken words or
other  sounds, including, but not limited to, a signal light.
  sounds.  
   (d) This section shall not apply to those products and services
provided by companies covered by Section 637.5 of the Penal Code.

   22948.21.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Connected television" means a device that can be connected to
the Internet, receives television signals used to broadcast programs
for entertainment, information, and education, and reproduces them
on a screen, except that this term shall not include a personal
computer, tablet,  video game console,  or cellular
telephone.
   (b) "Enable" means to take an affirmative action to make a voice
recognition feature operational on a connected television.
   (c) "User" mean an individual who purchases, leases, or takes
ownership of a connected television.
   (d) "Utilize" means to use a voice recognition feature that was
previously enabled.
   (e) "Voice recognition feature" means the function of a connected
television that allows the collection, recording, storage, analysis,
transmission, interpretation, or other use of spoken words or other
sounds, except that this term shall not include voice commands that
are not recorded or transmitted beyond the connected television.
   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.   action, or limit any existing 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.