Addis Bill Bolstering Student Data Protection Signed Into Law

SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) announced that Governor Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1159, the California Learner Personal Information Protection Act (CALPIPA), into law as part of his announcement of nation-leading protections for California children.

Personal data collected through educational institutions, in some instances, has reportedly been sold to private companies, creating opportunities to target students and families with predatory offers, including high-cost loans.

AB 1159 strengthens California's privacy framework for students from pre-K through college by establishing guardrails to protect student data and closing loopholes that allow sensitive personal information to be collected, shared, or monetized without proper safeguards.

"Ensuring data privacy and protection is vital to our children's well-being, dignity, and right to learn. No child should be put at risk of big tech taking advantage of their personal data for financial - or any kind of gain," said Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay). "As generative AI and other tech are now mainstays in our classrooms, AB 1159 creates clear, common-sense protections for California's children and students PK-University. I am grateful to Governor Newsom for including it in his nation-leading protections for kids, and for putting them first."

The bill has also drawn praise from educational advocates and labor organizations. The bill is sponsored by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

"A recent survey of our membership found student data privacy to be a major concern," said Jeffery Freitas, President of CFT, A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals. "The more education workers have to worry about whether students' personal information is being sold or exposed, the less everyone can focus on learning. AB 1159 (Addis) better protects both TK-12 and college students from these risks, and we applaud Assemblymember Addis for her effective work on this key issue."

"Students should not have to surrender their privacy to get an education. EdTech companies have extraordinary access to students' lives through the tools they use for class, and that access comes with a responsibility to protect them, not to turn their personal information into a product to sell," said Emory Roane, Associate Director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "AB 1159 finally extends privacy protections to millions of California college students. It puts hard limits on using their data to train AI and protects sensitive information like reproductive health and immigration records from exploitation. And when companies break those rules, students and families can hold them accountable directly. We were proud to sponsor this bill, and we thank Assemblymember Addis for her leadership and Governor Newsom for signing these protections into law."

"Our union of 310,000 public school educators are proud to support efforts that safeguard our students. AB 1159 will protect every student-from TK through college-against data misuse, AI exploitation, and the unauthorized collection of personal information," said David Goldberg, President, California Teachers Association. "Expanding protections to higher education students, closing loopholes, and addressing modern threats posed by AI systems that misuse sensitive data to train models is a necessary step forward for California. By protecting student privacy-especially for reproductive health, immigration status, and LGBTQ+ identity-we are building the safe, equitable, and inclusive schools that all students and their families deserve."

AB 1159 will go into effect on January 1, 2027.

Dawn Addis was elected to the California State Assembly in 2022 to represent the coastal 30th Assembly District, which includes San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties. She is the Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 1 on Health.

CONTACT: Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, (831) 649-2832