California Student Privacy Bill Fills National Void, Heads to Governor

(Sacramento) - California's Senate sent a first-in-the-nation privacy measure to the desk of California's Governor on August 26 on a unanimous bipartisan vote of 36 to 0. Senate Bill 1177, the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (SOPIPA) authored by Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, prohibits using kids' personal information for profit.

Common Sense CEO, James Steyer released the following statement in response to the bill:

"This groundbreaking legislation will help ensure that California schoolchildren can use educational websites and apps to enrich their learning, without fear that their personal information will be exploited for commercial purposes or fall into the wrong hands. The bill will require K-12 websites, online services, and apps to safeguard and secure students' personal information — they can't use it to target advertising, they can't use it to create commercial profiles, and they can't sell it. This is a major step forward in creating a trusted online learning environment, where industry can innovate, schools can provide state-of-the-art digital learning tools, and students can thrive. Hats off to Senator Steinberg for his leadership in crafting this landmark bill."