California Governor Jerry Brown signed both IoT security and privacy bills put before him yesterday. Both of these bills require manufacturers of connected devices to equip them with a “reasonable security feature or features” that are appropriate to their nature and function, and the information they may collect, contain or transmit — and are designed to protect the device and its information from “unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure.” The question now is – does the Federal government follow suit with similar legislation?
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed two bills that could make manufacturers of Internet-connected devices more responsible for ensuring the privacy and security of California residents.
The governor’s office announced on September 28 that Brown had signed the legislation, Assembly Bill 1906 and Senate Bill 327. He had until the end of the day on Sept. 30 to do so. Both bills will become law in about 15 months, on Jan. 1, 2020. That delayed effect, one of the lawmakers behind the legislation said, is designed to hold industry accountable but not stifle innovation or unduly burden it with regulation. Senate Bill 327 is the older of the two and was introduced in Feb. 2017 by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, but as currently amended, the senator told Government Technology, is “pretty much a mirror” of AB 1906, introduced in January by Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks.
