AB-1159 • 2026

Student personal information.

Children Education Technology

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Addis
Last action: 2026-01-27
Official status: In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included a claim about allowing students to sue noncompliant companies, which is not explicitly stated in the official source material.

Student Personal Information Protection

This law updates existing protections for K-12 and early learning students' personal information and adds new protections for higher education students.

What This Bill Does

Expands the K-12 Pupil Online Personal Information Protection Act (KOPIPA) to cover more types of websites, services, applications, or mobile apps used in schools.
Updates the Early Learning Personal Information Protection Act (ELPIPA) to apply to similar educational technology tools for preschool and prekindergarten.
Adds a new law called the Higher Education Student Information Protection Act (HESIPA) to protect college students' personal information.
Prohibits companies from using student data, like unique identifiers, to train or develop artificial intelligence systems.

Who It Names or Affects

Students in K-12 schools
Children in preschool and prekindergarten programs
College students enrolled in higher education institutions
Companies that operate websites, services, applications, or mobile apps used by these educational groups

Terms To Know

KOPIPA: K-12 Pupil Online Personal Information Protection Act - a law protecting K-12 students' personal information.
ELPIPA: Early Learning Personal Information Protection Act - a law protecting preschool and prekindergarten children's personal information.
HESIPA: Higher Education Student Information Protection Act - a new law protecting college students' personal information.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how it will be enforced or funded.
It is unclear what specific penalties noncompliant companies might face under this legislation.

Bill History

2026-01-27 California Legislative Information
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
2026-01-26 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 65. Noes 5. Page 3835.)
2026-01-22 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2026-01-22 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 1.) (January 22).
2026-01-22 California Legislative Information
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
2026-01-22 California Legislative Information
Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Page 3806.)
2026-01-20 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2026-01-16 California Legislative Information
Read second time and amended.
2026-01-15 California Legislative Information
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 2.) (January 15).
2026-01-13 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 11. Noes 2.) (January 13). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
2026-01-08 California Legislative Information
(Pending re-refer to Com. on JUD.)
2026-01-08 California Legislative Information
Assembly Rule 56 suspended. (Page 3717.)
2026-01-06 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
2026-01-05 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.
2026-01-05 California Legislative Information
In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
2025-04-08 California Legislative Information
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
2025-03-25 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
2025-03-24 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.
2025-03-24 California Legislative Information
Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.
2025-02-21 California Legislative Information
From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.
2025-02-20 California Legislative Information
Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

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
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 the noncompliance with KOPIPA, ELPIPA, or HESIPA to bring a civil action against the noncompliant operator, as prescribed.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Download Bill PDF