BILL NUMBER: AB 1116 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2015
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. person or
entity from using the features in a connected television that allow
the collection, recording, storage, analysis,
transmission, interpretation, or other use of the spoken word of a
person within this state without informing the user or a person
designated by the user to perform the initial setup or installation
of the connected television, except as specified. This bill would
further prohibit a manufacturer of a connected television or a third
party that contracts with a manufacturer of a connected television,
as specified, from using or selling for any advertising purpose any
spoken word or other sound that was collected by a connected
television for the purpose of improving the function, operation, or
features of the connected television. This bill would prohibit a
person or entity from compelling a manufacturer or entity offering
features that allow the collection, recording, storage, analysis,
transmission, interpretation, or other use of spoken words, to build
specific features for the purpose of allowing an investigative or law
enforcement officer to monitor communications through
that feature. This bill would limit the liability of a manufacturer
to functionality provided at the time of the original sale
of a connected television and specifically exclude liability for
functionality provided by applications downloaded and installed by a
user. 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. 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.
(3) A mechanism that indicates to the user when the voice
recognition feature is collecting or transmitting spoken words or
other sounds.
(d) This section shall not apply to those products and services
provided by companies covered by Section 637.5 of the Penal Code.
22948.20. (a) Except for voice commands that are not recorded or
transmitted beyond the connected television, a person or entity shall
not use the features in a connected television that allow the
collection, recording, storage, analysis, transmission,
interpretation, or other use of the spoken word of a person within
this state without informing the user or a person designated by the
user to perform the initial setup or installation of the connected
television. A manufacturer of a connected television or a third party
that contracts with a manufacturer of a connected television to
provide a voice recognition feature shall not use or sell for any
advertising purpose any spoken word or other sound that was collected
by a connected television for the purpose of improving the function,
operation, or features of the connected television, including, but
not limited to, the provision of an accessible user interface for
people with disabilities.
(b) A person or entity shall not compel a manufacturer or entity
offering features that allow the collection, recording, storage,
analysis, transmission, interpretation, or other use of spoken words,
to build specific features for the purpose of allowing an
investigative or law enforcement officer to monitor communications
through that feature.
(c) A manufacturer shall only be liable for functionality provided
at the time of the original sale of a connected television and shall
not be liable for functionality provided by applications downloaded
and installed by a user.
(d) This section shall not apply to any product or service
provided by a company covered under 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. video device designed for home use to
receive television signals and reproduce them on an integrated,
physical screen display that exceeds 12 inches, except
that this term shall not include a personal computer, portable
device, or a separate device that connects physically or wirelessly
to a television, including, but not limited to, a set-top box, video
game console, or digital video recorder.
(b) "Enable" means to take an affirmative action to make a voice
recognition feature operational on a connected television.
(c)
(b) "User" mean an individual
means a person who purchases, leases, or takes ownership of a
connected television. A person who is incidentally recorded when
a voice recognition feature is activated by a user shall not be
deemed to be a user.
(d)
(c) "Utilize" means to use a voice recognition feature
that was previously enabled.
(e)
(d) "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, 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.