Calif. Assembly Passes Bills on Surveillance Pricing, Kids Social Media
Bills about surveillance pricing and kids on social media passed the California Assembly on Monday and will go to the Senate.
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The Assembly voted 47-20 for AB-446, which would prohibit companies from using personal data to set customized prices for consumers. It cleared the Judiciary Committee last week (see 2505060064).
Meanwhile, members voted 66-0 to pass a bill (AB-2) to set civil penalties for large social media platforms that breach their “responsibility of ordinary care and skill” to children younger than 18. Legislators are moving the bill after a court blocked California’s age-appropriate design code (see 2504080025).
Consumer Watchdog rejoiced at the surveillance-pricing bill's passage. “Companies are using personal data against us to charge people different prices for the same exact product,” said Justin Kloczko, the group’s tech and privacy advocate. “They want to know how bad you want that hat and charge you as much as possible. AB 446 will stop this.”
Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer applauded "strong bipartisan support toward holding social media companies accountable for harming kids and teens," under AB-2. "By strengthening penalties for harms caused by social media companies’ negligence toward kids and teens, AB 2 helps families by sending a powerful message to these companies -- if your platforms hurt kids, you could pay the price," Steyer said.