CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(3) - No collection, sale, sharing, or retention beyond what is necessary (enjoined)
Businesses must not collect, sell, share, or retain children's personal information beyond what is necessary to provide the service unless a compelling child-welfare reason exists
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 1798.99.31(b)(3) - No collection, sale, sharing, or retention beyond what is necessary (enjoined)
Instrument: California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AB 2273)
Citation: Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(3), read with § 1798.145(a)(1)(A)-(D); 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
Child audience (designed for OR likely accessed by children) — any one of these:
- Service is specifically designed for children under 18
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
Remaining applicability scope — all of these:
- Service processes personal data
…unless:
- Collecting, selling, sharing or retaining personal information as described in § 1798.145(a)(1)(A)-(D): to comply with federal, state or local law or a court order or subpoena; to comply with a civil, criminal or regulatory inquiry, investigation, subpoena... (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(3), incorporating § 1798.145(a)(1)(A)-(D))
- The business can demonstrate a compelling reason that the collecting, selling, sharing or retaining of the personal information is in the best interests of children likely to access the service. (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(3) (compelling-reason qualifier))
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Data sharing is OFF by default for all users
- Third-party integrations cannot access user data without explicit toggle
- Admin approval workflow for any bulk data export
- Data sharing settings visible in user privacy dashboard
- API blocks external data requests unless sharing is enabled
Questions people ask
- Does CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(3) - No collection, sale, sharing, or retention… apply to my service?
- It applies when at least one of: Service is specifically designed for children under 18; Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; and Service processes personal data. It does not apply where Collecting, selling, sharing or retaining personal information as described in § 1798.145(a)(1)(A)-(D): to comply with federal, state or local law or a court order or subpoena; to comply with a civil, criminal or regulatory inquiry, investigation, subpoena... (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.99.31(b)(3), incorporating § 1798.145(a)(1)(A)-(D)).
- From when does this apply?
- CAADCA Section 1798.99.31(b)(3) - No collection, sale, sharing, or retention… 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.