Existing law prohibits a person or entity from providing the operation of a voice recognition feature of a connected television within the state without prominently informing the specified user of the connected television during the initial setup or installation. Existing law prohibits any actual recordings of spoken word collected for a specified purpose through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer of a connected television, or a contracting third party, from being sold or used for any advertising purpose. Existing law prohibits a person or entity from compelling a manufacturer or other entity providing the operation of a voice recognition feature to build specific features for the purpose of allowing an investigative or law enforcement officer to monitor communications through that feature. Existing law limits the liability of a manufacturer to functionality provided at the time of the original sale of a connected television and specifically excludes liability for functionality provided by applications the user chooses to use in the cloud or that are downloaded and installed by a user. Existing law prohibits a waiver of these prohibitions and authorizes their enforcement by injunction or civil penalty in a court of competent jurisdiction by the Attorney General or a district attorney. Existing law defines terms for these purposes.
This bill would include smart speaker devices, as defined, in those provisions, thereby prohibiting, among other things, a person or entity from providing the operation of a voice recognition feature within the state without prominently informing the user during the initial setup or installation of a smart speaker device. The bill would prohibit any actual recordings or transcriptions collected or retained through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer of a connected television or smart speaker device, that qualify as personal information or that are not deidentified, from being used for any advertising purpose, or being shared with, or sold to, a third party. The bill would also prohibit them from being retained by the manufacturer, as specified, without affirmative written or electronic consent, as defined. The bill would revise existing definitions and define additional terms for its purposes.

Statutes affected:
AB1395: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC
02/22/19 - Introduced: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC
04/08/19 - Amended Assembly: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC
05/06/19 - Amended Assembly: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC
05/22/19 - Amended Assembly: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC
06/26/19 - Amended Senate: 22948.20 BPC, 22948.21 BPC, 22948.23 BPC