Tech Oversight California today announced its support for a slate of state legislation aimed at holding the tech industry accountable and safeguarding Californians’ privacy, rights, and safety. The bills tackle a range of urgent issues, from limiting invasive surveillance and protecting children online to regulating artificial intelligence and strengthening consumer privacy laws.
“When it comes to tech regulation, California’s lawmakers continue to lead the way in protecting consumers, empowering workers, and keeping pace with rapidly evolving technologies like A.I. While it’s no surprise the Big Tech lobby is fighting these meaningful bills, we’re proud to meet them with muscle backed by broad community support,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project.
Tech Oversight California is proudly announcing support for the following bills:
Consumer protection & workplace data privacy:
- AB 2 (Lowenthal): Creates enhanced penalties when social media companies breach the standard of care, resulting in harm to a child.
- AB 566 (Lowenthal): Requires browsers and mobile operating systems to include a setting that enables a consumer to send an opt-out preference signal.
- AB 1159 (Addis): Updates and expands existing student data protections by clarifying and broadening their scope, extending their protections, and strengthening data minimization.
- AB 1331 (Elhawary): Prohibits employers from using a workplace surveillance tool to monitor workers in off-duty areas, including their personal residence and vehicle, and during off-duty hours.
- AB 1337 (Ward): Tightens restrictions on how agencies can use and disclose personal information and prohibits agencies from using personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected.
- AB 1355 (Ward): Prohibits the collection or use of an individual’s location information unless doing so is necessary to provide goods or services requested by that individual.
Artificial intelligence accountability:
- AB 316 (Krell): Prohibits a defendant that developed or used artificial intelligence, as defined, from asserting a defense that the artificial intelligence autonomously caused harm to the plaintiff.
- AB 410 (Wilson): Requires chatbots to say they’re bots right away, answer honestly if someone asks, and not pretend to be human.
- AB 853 (Wicks): Requires large online platforms to develop a way for users to easily access provenance data of uploaded content.
- SB 53 (Wiener): Establishes a consortium tasked with developing a framework for a public cloud computing cluster that advances the ethical development and deployment of AI for the public good; creates protections for whistleblowers working with specified AI models when reporting on “critical risks”; and requires developers to provide processes for anonymous reporting of activities posing such risks.
Earlier this year, Tech Oversight California came out in support for three bills focused on consumer protection:
- SB 243 (Padilla): Safeguards users by imposing safety obligations on operators of companion chatbots.
- AB 325 (Aguiar-Curry): Amends the Cartwright Act to enhance antitrust enforcement.
- AB 446 (Ward): Prohibits setting prices to a consumer based upon their personally identifiable information gathered through an electronic surveillance technology.
AB 446 is set for a Judiciary Committee hearing tomorrow. Tech Oversight California was launched in March as a Sacramento-based advocacy group dedicated to reinforcing the ongoing fight to build a better internet in California and beyond by holding Big Tech platforms accountable.