Privacy Law Section

A user’s precise geolocation data can be utilized by businesses and government agencies for a great variety of purposes, like mapping, navigation, targeted advertisements, market research and emergency services, to name a few. While precise geolocation data can be helpful in providing the above services, many people appear to be more sensitive about information related to their whereabouts as compared with many other types of personal information that may be equally revealing about their daily lives. Read more

Artificial intelligence (AI) companion and character chatbots have become increasingly popular, particularly among children and teenagers. Some AI companion chatbots are developed to offer emotional and mental support through life-like responses to a human’s prompt while some character chatbots provide customizable anthropomorphic virtual characters for role playing and storytelling. Even though companion and character chatbots differ in their design, both are programmed to simulate human-like conversations, encourage users to form emotional bonds with the chatbot, and deliver a personalized experience. Unlike commercial chatbots, which are programmed to offer solutions, provide information and keep a neutral tone in their responses, the programming of AI companion/character chatbots is such that they seem to offer companionship to their users. Read more

Recently, the California legislature concluded its 2025 Session. SB 690, which would update the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), the State's wiretap law, will proceed as a two-year bill and legislators can take it up again during the 2026 legislative session. This will allow more time for consideration of this bill that aims, among other things, at reducing the number of lawsuits relying on CIPA to argue that the non-consensual use of web tracking technologies amounts to a wiretap prohibited by CIPA. Proponents say the bill will help decrease costs faced by midsized and smaller businesses lacking the resources to defend against such lawsuits. Critics claim the bill will allow privacy rights violations to continue to go unpunished, especially as a recent report found “rampant non-compliance” with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), five years after its passage. Read more

As of October 13, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed or vetoed several consequential privacy, AI, and technology-related bills. Read more

The 2026 Annual Privacy Summit returns to the UCLA Luskin Conference Center for its fourth year on February 19–20, 2026. Read more

By: Adriana Beach Status: As of June 9, jointly referred to the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection and Judiciary Committee but failed to advance out of committees before the close of the legislative session on September 12, 2025. California’s SB 420 seeks to establish a regulatory framework for high-risk automated decision systems (ADS) in the state, requiring developers and deployers to conduct impact assessments, publish disclosures, and implement a governance program. It also establishes potential civil liability, with a built-in… Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision in Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) marked a pivotal moment in First Amendment jurisprudence in regulating how adults can access protected speech. The Court upheld Texas’s H.B. 1181, a 2023 law that regulates access to sexually explicit material online. HB 1181 requires commercial websites, whose content is more than one-third sexual material deemed harmful to minors, to implement age-verification systems and prominently display health warnings. Read more

On September 12, the first year of California’s biennial legislative session officially closed. The bills that passed at the end of the 2025 legislative year will be considered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Newsom has until October 12, 2025 to either sign, veto, or take no action on the passed bills. Read more

The data economy is changing. Users of technology and social media platforms are becoming increasingly aware of the value their personal data holds for both advertising and for developing generative AI systems. Read more

In the corridors of the California legislature, legislators are reshaping the boundaries of privacy and artificial intelligence. This article reviews 11 key bills that confront a wide spectrum of contemporary challenges from workplace surveillance to automated decision systems that arbitrate human opportunity. Read more