BILL NUMBER: AB 1116 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2015
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 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
prominently 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 television, including 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) 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 prominently 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 television, including for the purpose
of improving the function, operation, or features of the connected
television, including, but not limited to, or
for 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 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) "User" 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.
(c) "Utilize" means to use a voice recognition feature that was
previously enabled.
(d)
(c) "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
person who 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 person who
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
sold or leased 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.