The Granite Bay Republican talked with Techwire about notable tech bills now active in the Legislature; last year’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA); and a piece of AI legislation that could be formative if passed. Among the takeaways:
• The CCPA, which the Legislature approved in 2018 to take effect Jan. 1, 2020, would enable residents to learn more about which of their personal information (PI) is being collected, whether it’s being sold or disclosed; and empower them to say no to that sale. But the landmark act remains of concern to lawmakers, several of whom have introduced bills aimed at refining its goals. Kiley said the bill was “very hastily put together and passed” and “would have just shut down a lot” of Internet services if not addressed.
“This year has been dedicated to trying to find the right balance between protecting consumer privacy on the one hand, and maintaining the workability of the Internet as we know it, on the other hand. And I’m not satisfied myself that that balance has been struck in just the right way yet. But I do think that through this year so far, we’ve been moving in the right direction,” Kiley said.
• The assemblyman singled out bills by Assembly colleagues Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto; Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova; and Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, as being “designed to make that law more workable and fix some of the problems.”
Berman’s Assembly Bill 1564 would require businesses that collect, disclose or sell PI to tell consumers, and offer two or more ways to request that information. AB 1416, from Cooley, would make an exception to CCPA rights around PI collected by businesses for those that provide it to “a government agency solely for the purposes of carrying out a government program, if specified requirements are met”; and for those that sell the PI to detect security incidents or protect against illegal activity — even if a person has already opted out of that sale. Having passed the Assembly, both bills are before the Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary. Irwin’s AB 523 would ban the unauthorized sale of consumers’ cellphone geo-location data. It has been referred to two Senate committees, but a hearing Monday was postponed.
• Artificial intelligence issues have been front-of-mind, Kiley said, following his delivery of a resolution last year asking both houses to set principles on AI development and to encourage a dialog. Earlier this session, Kiley joined the CCPA author, Assemblyman Ed Chau, D-Monterey Park, to co-author AB 976 creating the Artificial Intelligence in State Government Services Commission and empowering it to “gather input on how artificial intelligence and data science could be used to improve state services.” The commission would also create plans to seek AI and data science-related demonstration projects for “critical state services” and incorporate successes into those services. Passed by the Assembly, AB 976 is now before the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization.
• Kiley’s state Senate bid ended June 4 with a loss to Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills. Asked what he’d hoped to accomplish with respect to technology if sent to the Senate, Kiley said he’s “dedicated” as an Assemblyman to address tech issues and thinks being vice chair of the Privacy Committee uniquely positions him to do so.
