Advocacy groups support AB 1064, but they dropped their backing of SB 243 after a series of late changes to it that they argued weakened the bill. Among other things, the changes would exempt chatbots built into video games and into smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo line of products.
The largely behind-the-scenes campaign offers a glimpse into how the tech giant is working to preserve its grip on the online advertising market and how it attempts, without being seen, to shape policies in a state with one of the nation’s strictest privacy protection laws.
With the end of the legislative session in sight, the push to pass social media and AI regulations is heating up in Sacramento, and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom is lending her star power to the effort. Siebel Newsom spoke on a panel discussion Wednesday held by Common Sense Media, a main player in the…
The new data shows that 70% of Californians believe in the need for “strong laws to make AI fair.” But the data also reveals high levels of skepticism that those laws will ever be enacted.
Data brokers are required by California law to provide ways for consumers to request their data be deleted. But good luck finding them. More than 30 of the companies hid their deletion instructions from Google, according to a review by The Markup and CalMatters of hundreds of broker websites.
All over the country, states are advancing and implementing AI safeguards while Congress considers a national moratorium in the reconciliation bill. In California, one measure aims to counter tech marketing of chatbots as an alleviation to loneliness and mental health struggles.
Assembly Bill 1355 would require opt-in consent for collecting and sharing geolocation data, a targeted approach that reflects growing national concern over surveillance and use of sensitive data.
“The CPPA is charged with protecting the data privacy of Californians, and watering down its proposed rules to benefit Big Tech does nothing to achieve that goal,“ said Sacha Haworth, executive director of Tech Oversight Project, an advocacy group focused on challenging policy that reinforces Big Tech power, said in a statement to CalMatters. “By…
She never searched for this content specifically, but the platforms’ algorithms aggressively pushed it on her. What happened next was devastating, and a painful example of why we need Assembly Bill 2, an accountability measure currently circulating the state Capitol. She transformed from a vibrant, healthy, athletic teen to someone we didn’t recognize. My daughter…