Calif. Cable, Privacy Bills Advance

Several California bills crossed chambers Tuesday. The Assembly voted 47-15 to pass AB-1826, which updates the state’s 2006 cable law, the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act. The bill would increase fines for service-quality problems and aims at increasing participation of the public and its advocates in the franchise renewal process (see 2404250036). The Assembly voted 71-0 for AB-2765, which would require the California Public Utilities Commission to report on inspections that ensure companies comply with resiliency plans. The body also voted unanimously for AB-2905, expanding the state’s autodialer definition to include calls made with an AI voice. On the privacy front, the Assembly voted 50-14 for AB-2930 to set rules for automated decision-making technology, including requiring impact assessments and disclosures to consumers. The same chamber voted 58-0 for AB-1949 to amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to additionally stop businesses from collecting, using, sharing or selling personal data of anyone younger than 18, unless they get consent or if it’s absolutely needed for business purposes. The state’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta backed the bill (see 2401300049). In addition, the Assembly voted 50-10 to pass AB-1791, which would require social media platforms to delete personally identifiable information, called provenance data, from uploaded content. In the Senate, the vote was 38-0 in favor of SB-1223, which amends the CCPA to include “neural data” as a type of sensitive personal information. And senators voted 34-0 to pass SB-1504 to tighten a cyberbullying law that requires social platforms to have reporting mechanisms (see 2404230039). Also, the Senate voted 30-9 to approve SB-1460, which would require a group to develop model contract provisions for telecom sector apprenticeships.