BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1116
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1116 (Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection)
As Amended , 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 74-0 | (May 22, |SENATE: | 40-0 | (September 8, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: P. & C.P.
SUMMARY: Prohibits the collection and use of spoken words and
conversations captured by Internet-connected televisions,
commonly known as "connected televisions" or "smart TVs" without
first informing the user, and prohibits using or selling for
advertising purposes any spoken words or sounds collected
through a connected television for purposes of improving the
voice recognition feature. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits the provision of voice recognition features without
first prominently providing the user or user's designee with
of the television's capability to collect, record, store,
analyze, transmit, interpret or otherwise use spoken words
during the initial setup or installation.
2)Prohibits the sale or use for advertising purposes of actual
recordings of spoken words collected through the operation of
a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer of a connected
television for the purpose of improving the voice recognition
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feature.
3)Prohibits the sale or use for advertising purposes of actual
recordings of spoken words collected through the operation of
a voice recognition feature by a third party contracting with
a manufacturer for the purpose of improving the voice
recognition feature.
4)Prohibits a person or entity from compelling a manufacturer or
an entity offering voice recognition services to build
features into a connected television for the purpose of
allowing an investigative or law enforcement officer to
monitor communications.
5)Specifies that a manufacturer is only liable for functionality
provided at the time of the original sale of a connected
television, and is not liable for any separate applications
downloaded and installed onto the connected television by a
user.
6)Specifies that the provisions of this bill do not apply to
satellite or cable television corporations, as specified.
7)Defines the terms "connected television," "user," and "voice
recognition feature."
8)Invalidates any waiver of this bill's provisions as contrary
to public policy, and void and unenforceable.
9)Gives the Attorney General or a district attorney the power to
prosecute a manufacturer that violates or proposes to violate
these provisions by seeking injunctive relief, a civil penalty
of up to $2,500 per violation, or both, and are cumulative.
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10)Specifies that there is no private right of action for
violation of these provisions, nor do these provisions limit
any existing right of private action.
11)Declares that the provisions of this bill are severable.
The Senate amendments generally revise and recast the provisions
of this bill to: 1) remove the requirement for user consent
prior to initially enabling the voice recognition feature of a
connected television; 2) remove the requirements that connected
televisions indicate when the voice recognition feature is
activated and have an on/off function for the voice recognition
feature; 3) limit the bill to restricting connected TV
manufacturers and their third party voice recognition service
contractors from using data originally collected for the purpose
of improving the voice recognition features for the purpose of
advertising; and 4) specify that the penalties in the bill apply
when there is a "knowing" violation of the bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are potential minor costs to the Attorney
General or local prosecutors, offset to some extent by penalty
revenues.
COMMENTS: This bill is intended to protect the privacy of
people inside their homes by requiring disclosure at
installation to the user of the functions of a connected
television, while also prohibiting the use of voice data
collected from connected TVs for advertising if the voice data
was originally collected by the manufacturer (or third party
voice recognition provider) solely for the purpose of improving
the connected television or voice recognition features of the
TV.
Connected TV voice recognition features respond to human voices
so that users can speak basic commands to operate the TV and
speak search terms to search for content on the Internet, rather
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than using the remote control to find and select options.
According to Statistica.com, about 52 million smart TVs were
sold worldwide in 2011, and that figure is expected to reach 141
million in 2015.
Analysis Prepared by: Jennie
Bretschneider / P. & C.P. / (916) 319-2200 FN: 0002228