California Senate Bill 568, passed unanimously in the California Senate, would mandate an “eraser button” for websites that collect information from minors, defined as under age 18 (not age 13, as in the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA). Essentially, the bill would require any website, online service, online application, or mobile application to permit a minor to “remove content or information submitted to or posted on” the website, service, or application by the user. Notice of this right would be required to be provided to all users. Aside from the use of “minor” in the bill, it departs from COPPA in another major way by not limiting its provisions to “personal information” but instead broadly applying them to any content or information.
The bills provides two exceptions: (1) when other laws require that the information be maintained, and (2) when the content or information is submitted by a third party other than the minor, or a third party republishes or resubmits content originally posted by the minor.
The bill separately adds a prohibition on marketing or advertising products or services to minors, if the minor cannot legally purchase the product or participate in the service in California.
If passed, the bill would come into effect on January 1, 2015. It is currently in Committee Process.
