SB 690 THREATENS THE PRIVACY RIGHTS OF ALL CALIFORNIANS
SB 690, currently moving through the California State Legislature, would eliminate important privacy protections for Californians. It would allow any business to intercept and record your wireless communications, and it would expand the collection of personal data by tech companies. Currently, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) prohibits eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications and the interception and recording of cellular communications. SB 690 would add an exemption for any "commercial business purpose". This outrageously broad exemption would allow a business to legally intercept your personal communications, including phone calls and e-mails. It would allow businesses to secretly collect communications from children and teens, undocumented immigrants, and elected officials.
You can read the text of the bill by following the link below.
If you'd like to contact your State Assembly representative to comment on this bill, use the link below to locate your representative.
Below is the text of the letter sent by CBLA to the California Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
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June 22, 2026
Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee
Re: SB 690, CIPA, Invasion of Privacy, Hearing Date: 07/01/26, Opposed, Bill Allows Wiretapping of Elected Officials
Members of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee,
Citizens for a Better Los Angeles (CBLA) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation organized to protect the rights and promote the well-being of all people throughout Los Angeles County.
We are writing to express our serious concern about SB 690, which would make exempt any company with a “commercial business purpose” from civil and criminal liability under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which prohibits wiretapping, eavesdropping on or recording confidential communications, as well as intercepting and recording cellular communications.
Do the members of the State Legislature realize that approval of this bill would:
Allow political consultants and lobbyists to capture confidential electronic communications between elected officials and their associates?
Allow contractors working with ICE and/or DHS to capture electronic communications between undocumented immigrants for the purpose of tracking their movements?
Allow unscrupulous business interests to intercept communications to between minors to exploit information about mental health issues, drug abuse, teen pregnancies and more?
CBLA understands that this bill was introduced as a response to a spate of lawsuits, many of which appear to be exploiting the existing language in CIPA to extract lucrative settlements from businesses. This is certainly a problem, but SB 690, as it is currently written is NOT the solution. SB 690 appears to have been written by tech lobbyists, and if it passes in its current form, tech companies will reap huge benefits. California law will no longer constrain them from gathering massive amounts of personal information from their customers, and other predatory businesses will profit as well.
Claims that the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) would prevent abuse are false. The CCPA, while it does offer some important benefits, leaves it up to Californians to monitor their own data and to work on their own behalf to stop abuses. The vast and largely unregulated data brokerage ecosystem makes it impossible to track personal data that is being collected every day from everyone who uses the internet.
All language referring to exemptions for a "commercial business purpose" MUST be stricken from SB 690. The inclusion of this language legalizes the collection of personal information sent via electronic communications, including by tapping a person's phone. A vote for this bill in its current form is a vote to let tech companies invade the privacy of every Californian without limitation, and to let predatory businesses exploit personal information collected from undocumented immigrants, teenagers, children, politicians, political activists and others.
The legislature should take action to address the spate of lawsuits plaguing businesses, but SB 690 in its current form is not the answer to this problem. The legislature needs to go back to the drawing board and propose reasonable, specific changes to existing law that would address the issue. As it is, SB 690 could easily make everyone in California a potential victim of entities that would have free reign to eavesdrop on them for a "commercial business purpose".
CBLA urges you to vote no on SB 690. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Casey Maddren
Citizens for a Better Los Angeles