Connected consumer products.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill's final approval and implementation are pending executive action.

Rules for Connected Devices

The bill requires manufacturers to provide support and updates for at least five years and notify users when their connected device reaches its end of life.

What This Bill Does

• Requires manufacturers to inform buyers about the minimum guaranteed support timeframe for a connected consumer product.
• Sets a minimum support period of five years for all connected consumer products sold in the state.
• Needs companies to inform owners when their devices reach the end of their useful life.
• For businesses that lease or provide connected devices as part of their services, it requires them to keep these devices updated and replace them with similar ones if needed at no extra cost to customers.

Who It Names or Affects

• Manufacturers of connected devices sold in the state.
• Businesses that lease or provide connected devices as part of their services.
• Customers who buy, lease, or use connected devices.

Terms To Know

Connected consumer product

A device like a smart phone, tablet, or home appliance that can connect to the internet and is meant for personal use.

End of life

The point when a manufacturer stops providing support or updates for a connected device.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens if a comparable product is not available.
• It does not explain how manufacturers will be punished for breaking these rules.
• The bill has passed the legislature but its final approval and implementation are pending.

Official Summary Text

SB 898, as amended, Weber Pierson.
Connected consumer products.
The Unfair Competition Law (UCL) prohibits a person from engaging in unfair competition, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice.
This bill would require a manufacturer of a connected consumer product sold at retail in the state to clearly and prominently establish and disclose to any prospective buyer of a connected consumer product a minimum guaranteed support timeframe, as prescribed, and would prohibit a manufacturer from reducing that timeframe.
The bill would further require that a minimum guaranteed support timeframe be no less than 5 years, as specified.
The bill would also require a manufacturer to provide a notice of a connected consumer product’s end of life to the public and to any owner of the
product, as specified.
This bill would require a business that owns or controls a connected consumer product that it leases or otherwise provides to its customers as part of a service to ensure that updates provided by the manufacturer for the connected consumer product are promptly received and applied and, when the connected consumer product has reached its end of life, replace the connected consumer product, at no additional cost to the customer, with a comparable product capable of receiving necessary updates and support if a comparable product is reasonably available to the business.
This bill would define “connected consumer product” to mean a
product, including a physical device, mobile application, or any necessary cloud infrastructure, that is intended for consumer use and is capable of connecting to the internet, either directly or indirectly and would
physical product, as specified, that is intended for consumer use and depends, partly or in whole, on an internet connection. The bill would also
define “end of life” to mean the point after which the manufacturer no longer provides necessary support or updates for a connected consumer product.
This bill would specify that a violation of its provisions constitutes a deceptive act or practice under the UCL.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF