Court blocks Californias online child safety law

Table Of Content

• Alan Raul, Founder of Sidley Austin’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Practice Elected FPF’s New Board President
• Prince Harry: world needs new digital laws like California proposal to protect children
• Related Services
• FPF Submits Comments to the Office of Management and Budget on AI and Privacy Impact Assessments
• Current Legal Analysis
• US Senate committee advances two children's privacy bills
• Governor signs California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

The bill, which was introduced in February 2022, is a major indication that lawmakers are finally ready to ask the tech industry to consider the safety of users. The Attorney General would be permitted to seek a civil lawsuit against any company that violates its provisions. The proposed law would subject violators to civil penalties of up to $2,500 per impacted kid for each negligent violation and up to $7,500 for each intentional violation. Give any privacy information, terms of service, policies, and community standards in a clear, concise manner that is visible to children of the age group most likely to access it. Document any risk that the company's data management methods provide to children that could be materially harmful, as determined by the Data Protection Impact Assessment. By shifting the monitoring and enforcement power of published policies from online businesses to the California Attorney General, NetChoice claims, the CAADCA in effect restricts the businesses’ editorial discretion protected by Section 230.

Alan Raul, Founder of Sidley Austin’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Law Practice Elected FPF’s New Board President

The goal of AB 2273 is consistent with the intent of Proposition 24 (CPRA), and in fact one of the major points of emphasis in the campaign for Proposition 24 was that it further enhanced the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by adding additional capabilities to safeguard our children’s safety. Proposition 24 also required opt-in consent for the sale of personal information from consumers under 16. "As we approach the conclusion of another U.S. Congressional session with no updates to children’s privacy or safety, states have made it clear they will fill the void." Sanchez said. "This bill takes a novel approach in responding to parents’ and lawmakers’ very real concerns that young people are not sufficiently protected online. It’s the first child-centered design bill we’ve seen in the U.S. If enacted, many expect that we will see other variations introduced by other state legislatures next year." Data minimization requirements, prohibitions on geolocation data collection, use and sale, and a ban on "dark patterns" that promote the submission of unnecessary personal data are a few of the shared topics.

Prince Harry: world needs new digital laws like California proposal to protect children

Securiti can assist you in complying with California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act and other privacy and security standards worldwide. Unless otherwise specified, a “child” or “children” means a consumer or consumers under 18 years of age. In a separate lawsuit, NetChoice challenged the constitutionality of social media laws deplatforming political candidates based on “viewpoint” in Texas and Florida, arguing both laws violated the First Amendment.

Related Services

What is the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA)? - JD Supra

What is the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA)?.

Posted: Tue, 14 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Every day children are using a digital world that is designed by and for adults, where they are nudged to give up their privacy, offered harmful material, and exposed to risky contacts and behaviors. We know that internet companies could stop the dissemination of child sexual abuse materials, but refuse to. You can take action collectively, with other survivors, to hold accountable tech companies that actually make money off of every click, share, like, download, upload. To read about C.A Goldberg, PLLC’s practice representing victims of Child Sexual Abuse Material, (CSAM) click here. Securiti uses the PrivacyOps architecture to provide end-to-end automation for businesses, combining reliability, intelligence, and simplicity.

The bill is modeled after the United Kingdom’s Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC) and aims to regulate the collection, processing, storage, and transfer of children’s data. The bill is moving through the California legislature at a time when young people are increasingly engaging with their peers online and using digital services for entertainment, educational, and other purposes. Given the rise in young users, there is growing international concern for children’s online data privacy and the effects online content can have on children’s mental and physical health. President Joe Biden emphasized the increasing need for children’s online protections in his State of the Union Address on March 1, 2022. He called upon Congress to provide stronger privacy protections for children, ban targeted advertising to children, and hold social media companies accountable.

Current Legal Analysis

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also emphasized the need for increased protections for youth in a policy statement released on May 19, 2022. The statement signaled the agency’s renewed focus on enforcing COPPA for all covered entities, including edtech vendors. Internationally, the United Kingdom enacted the Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), which came into force in September 2021. The UK AADC informed the creation of the ADCA and many of the questions or amendments surrounding compliance have arisen from the complications of transplanting the UK’s European-style regulatory approach into the US legal framework. However, apart from the CA AADC’s focus on all minors under age 18 and COPPA’s focus only on those under 13, it is not yet clear how different the ”likely to access” standard will be. Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo), the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 15, 2022.

This working group will consist of Californians with related expertise in two or more areas (for example, children’s data privacy and mental health) appointed by several government leaders and bodies, including the California Privacy Protection Agency. To me the ADCA is in fact one of three major California privacy bills in this legislative session that builds upon the CPRA, and I should note that I am proud to say that I play a part in two of the three (but not the ADCA!). The first is Senate Bill 1059 (aka SB 1059) that enhances California’s Data Broker law and moves the registration and regulation of data brokers to the Proposition 24-created California Privacy Protection Agency (PPA).

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Governor signs California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

To access the Youth & Ed team’s child and student privacy resources, visit and follow the team on Twitter at @SPrivacyCompass. FPF’s youth and education privacy team has closely tracked the progress of the California AADC; catch up on previous blog posts from June 28 and a September 1 update, and read our statement on the final bill here. Gain exclusive insights about how privacy affects business in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Leaders from across the Canadian privacy field deliver insights, discuss trends, offer predictions and share best practices. The IAPP's EU General Data Protection Regulation page collects the guidance, analysis, tools and resources you need to make sure you're meeting your obligations. On this topic page, you can find the IAPP’s collection of coverage, analysis and resources covering AI connections to the privacy space.

Others have criticized age-verification requirements, arguing that such mandates compel services to collect additional information about individuals. The “likely to be accessed” standard could encompass online products and services that children regularly visit that might otherwise not be covered under COPPA, like sites for video conferencing, online games, and social media. On September 15, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (the “Act”). The Act, which takes effect July 1, 2024, places new legal obligations on companies with respect to online products and services that are “likely to be accessed by children” under the age of 18. The Act requires businesses to estimate the age of child users with a “reasonable” level of certainty appropriate to the risks that arise from their data management practices or to apply privacy and data protections afforded to children to all of their consumers. However, businesses are prohibited from using the personal information collected to estimate age for any other purpose or to retain such information longer than necessary.

But there have been efforts in recent years, both in the United States and abroad, to more extensively regulate content directed to minors. These efforts aim to address the privacy of personal information, the protection of teens in addition to children under age 13, as well as general online safety, beginning with the United Kingdom’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (UK AADC). While COPPA defines “child” as an individual under the age of 13, CAADCA defines “child” as a consumer under the age of 18. Additionally, the CAADCA imposes a number of requirements on covered businesses that are not included under COPPA. The California Age Appropriate Design Code Act (ADCA) is a legal initiative that compels online platforms to proactively assess the privacy and protection of children in the design of any digital product or service they offer. The California Legislature enacted the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (A.B. 2273) on August 30, 2022.