SACRAMENTO — Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) introduced Assembly Bill 1971, the Student Privacy Protection Act.
"There is a clear and concerning lack of protections for California's students when it comes to their data privacy" said Addis. "Advances like those in artificial intelligence have surpassed our state's privacy laws-leaving our students vulnerable to irresponsible uses of their personal data. As technology continues to progress, so should the protections provided to Californians."
The Student Online Personal Information Act (SOPIPA), established in 2014, prohibits organizations that deal primarily with K-12 education data from selling student data or using a student's information to amass a personal profile. SOPIPA was a groundbreaking piece of legislation that provided unprecedented protections to students across California, but requires modernization to keep up with exponential growth in the technology sector.
AB 1971 adds education-adjacent institutions, including those that assemble and administer standardized tests, into the existing list of organizations that must abide by SOPIPA. Many of these entities deal almost exclusively with K-12 education data and, under AB 1971, will be held to the same standard of privacy.
AB 1971 now awaits referral to policy committee.
Dawn Addis was elected to the California State Assembly in 2022 to represent the coastal 30th Assembly District, which includes large portions of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties and the south-eastern area of Santa Cruz County.
CONTACT: Julie Cravotto, 916-319-2030