Keypoint: Of the ten privacy- and AI-related bills passed by the California legislature in the 2024 legislative session, Governor Newsom signed seven into law and vetoed three by the September 30 deadline.

Throughout the 2024 legislative session, we have been tracking numerous privacy- and AI-related bills pending in California. Ten of those bills passed the state legislature before the legislative session ended on August 31 (nine of which passed in the final week of August). Governor Newsom had a deadline of September 30 to sign or veto the bills that passed. Of the ten total bills, he signed seven into law and vetoed three bills. Those seven bills scheduled to go into effect consist of four laws related to privacy and three laws related to AI.

The below article provides a summary of the ten bills that Governor Newsom either signed into law or vetoed.

It has been a busy year in state privacy and AI law with seven states passing consumer data privacy laws, four states amending their existing laws, multiple states passing children’s-related privacy laws, and four states passing AI-related laws. In this on-demand webinar available exclusively to Byte Back+ members, HB privacy partner David Stauss discusses those

Keypoint: The Texas Attorney General reaches a first-of-its-kind settlement with a healthcare company that provides generative AI products. 

On September 18, 2024, the Texas Attorney General announced that it had reached a settlement with a Dallas-based artificial intelligence healthcare company. The Attorney General’s press release represents that it is a first-of-its-kind settlement, resolving allegations that the company deployed its artificial intelligence (“AI”) products at Texas hospitals while making false and misleading statements about the safety of its products. 

Keypoint: The proposed draft amendments modify the Colorado Privacy Act Rules to create a process for issuing opinion letters and interpretative guidance and to address the biometric and children’s privacy amendments passed by the Colorado legislature this year.

On September 13, 2024, the Colorado Attorney General’s office published proposed draft amendments to the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) Rules. The office also announced a rulemaking hearing on Thursday, November 7, 2024, and will accept written public comments until that date.

The draft proposed amendments create a process for issuing opinion letters and interpretive guidance. They also modify the existing language in the CPA Rules to address two bills passed by the Colorado legislature this year – SB 41 (kid’s privacy) and HB 1130 (biometric privacy). You can read more about the SB 41 and SB 1130 here and here.

In the below post, we provide a short summary of some of the more notable parts of the proposed amendments.

Keypoint: California district courts continue to split over whether “knowledge” is required to plead liability under Section 631(a)’s fourth prong while two decisions show courts taking different approaches to VPPA claims at the pleading stage.

Welcome to the seventeenth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation report. We prepare these reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled emerging data privacy trends. In this month’s post, California district courts continue to disagree over whether “knowledge” that the third party’s actions violated the law is required to prove liability under the fourth prong of Section 631(a), with the most recent court to address the question holding such knowledge is required. These district courts also continue to apply different standards to determine whether a third party has the capability to use intercepted communication-content for its own purpose. One court found the plaintiff’s allegations conclusory and dismissed a complaint while another court found the plaintiff sufficiently alleged a third-party had the capability to use the intercepted information for its own purpose when the plaintiff alleged the third party used the communications to train its AI model.

Although we only examine one SRT decision this month, the decision examines wiretapping law in California, Maryland, Minnesota, and Florida. The decision addresses issues of consent, standing, and our more “traditional” reasons for dismissal. We also look at two VPPA decisions that illustrate how courts in different circuits are handling Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss.

Byte Back + members also get a look at two pixel-based wiretapping claims, two pen registry decisions, and two other privacy litigation decisions. Interested in learning more about Byte Back+? Contact the authors or click here.

There are many courts currently handling data privacy cases across the nation. Although illustrative, this update is not intended to be exhaustive. If there is another area of data privacy litigation about which you would like to know more, please reach out. The contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated. If you are interested in tracking developments between blog posts, consider following us on LinkedIn.

Keypoint: The California legislature closed its 2024 session by passing five privacy-related bills and four AI-related bills.

On Saturday, August 31, the California legislature closed its 2024 session. During the past calendar year, we tracked numerous privacy and AI-related bills with fourteen of them passing out of their chamber of origin prior to the legislative deadline. For the past month, we have been tracking thirteen of those bills with weekly updates (the fourteenth bill already having passed through the legislature). Of the six privacy-related bills we have been tracking, five ultimately passed the legislature during the final week of the session. Four of the seven AI-related bills also passed. 

The below article first provides a summary of the bills that passed during the final week of the session. The article then provides an overview of all fourteen bills.

Keypoint: The California legislature enters into the final week of its session with many bills still under consideration.

We are currently tracking thirteen privacy and AI-related bills that previously crossed chambers prior to the legislative deadline. With the California legislature closing on August 31, we will be providing weekly updates on the progress of these bills.

Keypoint: Courts have started to issue Pixel-based wiretapping decisions, the Seventh Circuit weighs in on when a manufacturer can be forced to pay arbitration fees, and three courts showed different approaches to dismissing VPPA claims at the pleading stage.

Welcome to the sixteenth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation report. We prepare these reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled emerging data privacy trends. In this month’s post, we are covering two wiretapping decisions based on chat services on website and one based on use of SRT.

If you are a Byte Back+ member, you will also see our coverage on the recent trend of cases brought under pen registry laws and—new this month—multiple “pixel” cases that are disconnected from session replay or chat-based theories and an update regarding an arbitration defendant can be forced to pay arbitration fees. Members also get access to our “other lawsuits” section, where this month we are covering one decision that involves an AI/machine learning based technology used to provide customer support agents with suggested responses to common questions from customers and two decisions from the Seventh Circuit that consider whether a large manufacturer can be forced to pay arbitration fees for thousands of arbitration demands when the manufacturer withheld payment after disagreeing with the merits of the demands.

Interested in learning more about Byte Back+? Click here.

We are also covering four VPPA decisions resolving motions to dismiss that illustrate a plaintiff’s prima facie burden at the pleading stage and the potential for joint and several liability under the statute.

There are many courts currently handling data privacy cases across the nation. Although illustrative, this update is not intended to be exhaustive. If there is another area of data privacy litigation about which you would like to know more, please reach out. The contents provided below are time-sensitive and subject to change. If you are not already subscribed to our blog, consider doing so to stay updated. If you are interested in tracking developments between blog posts, consider following us on LinkedIn.

Keypoint: Although not nearly as far-reaching as the Colorado AI Act, the Illinois law adds to the growing patchwork of state laws that regulate artificial intelligence.

On August 9, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed HB 3773 into law. The bill, which goes into effect January 1, 2026, amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in certain employment settings. In the below article, we provide a summary of the law and its provisions.

Keypoint: The appellate court ruled that the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act’s impact assessment provision is unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the trial court to consider the constitutionality of the other challenged provisions.

On August 16, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in NetChoice v. Bonta on the constitutionality of California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AADC). The appellate court affirmed the district court’s decision in part and vacated it in part. The appellate court affirmed the district court’s ruling that NetChoice was likely to succeed in showing that the AADC’s data protection impact assessment requirement violates the First Amendment. Based on that ruling, the appellate court affirmed the district court’s decision to enjoin enforcement of that requirement. The appellate court vacated the remainder of the district court’s ruling, determining that it is unclear from the record whether the remaining provisions of the AADC challenged by NetChoice violate the First Amendment. The appellate court remanded the case to the district court to consider the constitutionality of those provisions and whether the law’s unconstitutional provisions are severable from the remainder of the law.

In the below article, we provide an overview and analysis of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.