CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(4) - No use of a child's personal information for another purpose (enjoined)
Do not use a child's personal information for any reason other than the reason it was collected, absent a demonstrable compelling reason in the best interests of children (enjoined)
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 1798.99.31(b)(4) - No use of a child's personal information for another purpose (enjoined)
Instrument: California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273)
Citation: Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(4); AB 2273, Stats. 2022 ch. 320, as amended by SB 1525, Stats. 2024 ch. 80
Text version: Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.99.28-1798.99.40 (AB 2273, Stats. 2022 ch. 320; § 1798.99.31 as amended by SB 1525, Stats. 2024 ch. 80, effective 1 January 2025), leginfo.legislature.ca.gov text retrieved 2026-09-21. Partly enjoined: NetChoice, LLC v. Bonta, No. 25-2366 (9th Cir. 12 Mar. 2026) — see confidenceNotes.
Who it applies to
It applies when all of these are true:
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
- Service collects behavioral data
…unless:
- The business can demonstrate a compelling reason that use of the personal information for another purpose is in the best interests of children. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(4) (compelling-reason qualifier))
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- High-privacy / high-safety settings are the default for users who are or may be children
- Nudges and engagement patterns that are detrimental to children are removed or off by default
- Geolocation, public visibility, and contact-by-strangers are off by default for minors
- Design decisions affecting children are documented with their rationale
- A newly created minor account has high-privacy defaults
Questions people ask
- Does CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(4) - No use of a child's personal information fo… apply to my service?
- It applies when Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; Service collects behavioral data. It does not apply where The business can demonstrate a compelling reason that use of the personal information for another purpose is in the best interests of children. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(4) (compelling-reason qualifier)).
- From when does this apply?
- CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(4) - No use of a child's personal information fo… applies from 1 July 2024. Its current status is: passed, not yet in force.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.