AB1159 - Student personal information.

Amended IN Senate August 21, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 03, 2026 Amended IN Assembly January 16, 2026 Amended IN Assembly January 05, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 24, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1159 Introduced by Assembly Member Addis February 20, 2025 An act to amend Sections 22584 and 22586 of, to add Section 22586.1 to, to add Chapter 22.2.6 (commencing with Section 22587) to Division 8 of, to repeal Section 22587 of, and to repeal and add Section 22585 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to privacy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1159, as amended, Addis. Student personal information. Existing law, the K–12 Pupil Online Personal Information Protection Act (KOPIPA), generally protects the personal information of a student enrolled in a K–12 course of instruction, defined as a “pupil,” by prescribing requirements and prohibitions applicable to an operator of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application with actual knowledge that the site, service, or application is used primarily for K–12 school purposes and was designed and marketed for K–12 school purposes. Existing law, the Early Learning Personal Information Protection Act (ELPIPA), generally protects the personal information of a child enrolled in a preschool or prekindergarten course of instruction, defined as a “pupil,” by prescribing requirements and prohibitions applicable to an operator of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application with actual knowledge that the site, service, or application is used primarily for preschool or prekindergarten purposes and was designed and marketed for preschool and prekindergarten purposes. This bill would instead apply the provisions of KOPIPA and ELPIPA to an operator, or an entity working on behalf of the operator, of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application with actual knowledge that the site, service, or application is used for the applicable school purposes and was designed or marketed for those purposes, as specified. The bill would, among other changes to KOPIPA and ELPIPA related to protecting the personal information of students, prohibit an operator from using covered information, as defined, including persistent unique identifiers, created or gathered by the operator’s site, service, or application to train a generative artificial intelligence system or service or develop an artificial intelligence system. This bill would also enact the Higher Education Student Information Protection Act (HESIPA), which would generally protect the personal information of a student enrolled in a higher education institution, as defined, in a similar manner as KOPIPA and ELPIPA. The bill would make HESIPA operative on July 1, 2027. This bill would authorize a pupil or student actually harmed by noncompliance with KOPIPA, ELPIPA, or HESIPA to bring a civil action against the noncompliant operator, as prescribed, and would require a person bringing that action to furnish a copy of the complain complaint to the Attorney General within 10 days after filing the action. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 22584 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 22584. (a) For purposes of this chapter: (1) “Artificial intelligence” has the same meaning as defined in Section 3110 of the Civil Code. (2) “California Consumer Privacy Act-excluded covered information” or “CCPA-excluded covered information” means covered information that is not subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (Title 1.81.5 (commencing with Section 1798.100) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code). (3) “Covered information” means personally identifiable information or materials, in any media or format that meets any of the following: (A) Is created or provided by a pupil, or the pupil’s parent, education rights holder, or legal guardian, to an operator in the course of the pupil’s, parent’s, education rights holder’s, or legal guardian’s use of the operator’s site, service, or application for K–12 school purposes. (B) Is created or provided by an employee or agent of the school or local educational agency to an operator. (C) Is gathered by an operator through the operation of a site, service, or application described in paragraph (10) and is descriptive of a pupil or otherwise identifies a pupil, including, but not limited to, information in the pupil’s educational record or email, first and last name, home address, telephone number, email address, or other information that allows physical or online contact, demographics, discipline records, test results, special education data, extracurricular activities, juvenile dependency records, grades, evaluations, criminal records, medical records, health records, social security number, biometric or behavioral information, disabilities, socioeconomic information, food purchases, political affiliations, religious information, text messages, documents, pupil identifiers, device identifiers, search activity, photographs, voice recordings, or geolocation information. (4) “Deidentified information” means information that cannot reasonably identify, relate to, describe, be capable of being associated with, or be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular individual, school, or household, if the operator that possesses the information does all of the following: (A) Takes reasonable measures to ensure that the information cannot be associated with a particular individual, school, or household. (B) (i) Subject to clause (ii), publicly commits to maintain and use the information in deidentified form and not to attempt to reidentify the information. (ii) The operator may attempt to reidentify the information solely for the purpose of determining whether its deidentification processes satisfy the criteria of this paragraph. (C) Contractually obligates any recipient of the information to meet the criteria described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). (D) Applies deidentification measures pursuant to consistent with those required of educational agencies and institutions under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) and implementing regulations. regulations, as determined by the local educational agency. (E) Makes its deidentification processes available for review, upon request, review by the school or local educational agency that the operator serves. serves before any use of deidentified data by the operator. (F) To the extent the school or local educational agency that the operator serves maintains a deidentification policy or standard, applies deidentification measures in accordance with that policy or standard. (G) If the school or local educational agency that the operator serves determines, following a review reviews the operator’s deidentification processes under subparagraph (E), that the information has not been sufficiently deidentified, ceases to the operator shall not use, share, or retain the information as deidentified information unless the operator remediates its deidentification of the information to the satisfaction of that school or local educational agency. agency determines that the operator’s deidentification process is sufficient under these standards. (5) “Generative artificial intelligence” has the same meaning as defined in Section 3110 of the Civil Code. (6) “K–12 school purposes” means purposes that customarily take place at the direction of the K–12 school, teacher, or local educational agency or aid in the administration of school activities, including, but not limited to, instruction in the classroom or at home, administrative activities, and collaboration between pupils, school personnel, or parents, or are for the use and benefit of the school. (7) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, charter school, or the state special schools for the blind and the deaf. (8) “National assessment provider” means a person that develops, sponsors, or administers standardized tests. (9) “Online service” includes cloud computing services, which must comply with this section if they otherwise meet the definition of an operator. (10) (A) “Operator” means the operator, or an entity working on behalf of the operator, of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application with actual knowledge that the site, service, or application is used for K–12 school purposes and was designed or marketed for K–12 school purposes, including a provider of digital educational software or services, including digital course books. (B) “Operator” does not include the State Department of Education, a local educational agency, or a school. (11) “Pupil” means a student enrolled in a K–12 course of instruction. (12) “Standardized test” means a test administered in California at the expense of the test subject that meets either of the following criteria: (A) The test is used for the purposes of admission to, or class placement in, postsecondary educational institutions or their programs. (B) The test is used for preliminary preparation for a test described in subparagraph (A). (13) “Train a generative artificial intelligence system or service” has the same meaning as defined in Section 3110 of the Civil Code. (b) An operator shall not knowingly engage in any of the following activities with respect to the operator’s site, service, or application: (1) (A) Engage in targeted advertising on the operator’s site, service, or application, or (B) target advertising on any other site, service, or application, including via email or other direct communication to the pupil, when the targeting of the advertising is based upon any information, including covered information and persistent unique identifiers, that the operator has acquired because of the use of that operator’s site, service, or application described in paragraph (10) of subdivision (a). (2) Use any information, including covered information and persistent unique identifiers, created or gathered by the operator’s site, service, or application, to amass a profile about a pupil enrolled in a local educational agency, except in furtherance of K–12 school purposes and for the use and benefit of the K–12 school and the teacher, pupil, or parent. (3) Sell a pupil’s information, including covered information, unless the sale meets either of the following criteria: (A) The sale is for the purchase, merger, or other type of acquisition of an operator by another entity, provided that the operator or successor entity continues to be subject to the provisions of this section with respect to previously acquired pupil information. (B) The sale is made by a national assessment provider to a K–12 school, local educational agency, or higher education institution, as defined in Section 22587, solely for assessment, admissions, or other K–12 school purposes or higher education purposes, as defined in Section 22587, for the benefit and use of the receiving institution. (B) The sale is made pursuant to a written contract that prohibits the recipient from selling or disclosing the information, or any information derived from the information, to any other party other than for a purpose for which the sale is permitted under this paragraph or as required by law and meets either of the following criteria: (i) The sale is made by a national assessment provider to a K–12 school, local educational agency, higher education institution, as defined in Section 22587, or a scholarship-granting organization, or a service provider acting on behalf of any of those entities or the national assessment provider, solely for assessment, admissions, the awarding of scholarships or financial aid, or other K–12 school purposes or higher education purposes, as defined in Section 22587, for the benefit of the pupil. (ii) The sale is made by a nonprofit entity established to provide enrollment data reporting services on behalf of higher education institutions to a state or federal agency, a K–12 school, a local educational agency, a higher education institution, an entity servicing student loans, or an entity with a direct relationship with the pupil, solely for verification of a pupil’s graduation from high school for the benefit of the pupil. (4) Disclose covered information unless the disclosure meets any of the following criteria: (A) The disclosure is in furtherance of the K–12 purpose of the site, service, or application and the recipient of the covered information disclosed pursuant to this subparagraph meets both of the following criteria: (i) The recipient does not further disclose the information unless done to allow or improve operability and functionality within that pupil’s classroom or school. (ii) The recipient is legally required to comply with subdivision (d). (B) The disclosure is necessary to ensure legal and regulatory compliance. (C) The disclosure is necessary to respond to or participate in judicial process. (D) The disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of users or others or security of the site. (E) The disclosure is to a service provider, and the operator contractually (i) prohibits the service provider from using any covered information for any purpose other than providing the contracted service to, or on behalf of, the operator, (ii) prohibits the service provider from disclosing any covered information provided by the operator with subsequent third parties, and (iii) requires the service provider to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices as provided in subdivision (d). (F) By a national assessment provider to a K–12 school, local educational agency, or higher education institution, as defined in Section 22587, solely for assessment, admissions, or other K–12 school purposes or higher education purposes, as defined in Section 22587, for the benefit and use of the receiving institution. (F) The disclosure is made pursuant to a written contract that prohibits the recipient from selling or disclosing the information, or any information derived from the information, to any other party other than for a purpose for which the disclosure is permitted under this paragraph or as required by law and meets either of the following criteria: (i) The disclosure is by a national assessment provider to a K–12 school, local educational agency, higher education institution, as defined in Section 22587, or to a scholarship-granting organization, or a service provider acting on behalf of any of those entities or the national assessment provider, solely for assessment, admissions, the awarding of scholarships or financial aid, or other K–12 school purposes or higher education purposes, as defined in Section 22587, for the benefit of the pupil. (ii) The disclosure is made by a nonp [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]