A5915

An Act concerning devices with voice recognition features and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as “The Consumer Electronic Voice Recognition Information Act.”

2. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

“Connected device” means an Internet-connected device that contains a microphone, including, but not limited to, a wireless speaker and voice command device, a wireless mobile device, tablet, television, or any other device, sold in this State that has an integrated virtual assistant offering interactive actions and hands-free activation.

“Manufacturer” means a person or entity that installs and operates the voice recognition feature and virtual assistant on a connected device.

“User” means a person who purchases, leases, or takes ownership of a connected device with a voice recognition feature. “User” shall not mean a person who is incidentally recorded when a voice recognition feature is activated by a user.

“Virtual assistant” means connected device software that understands natural language voice commands and completes tasks for the user.

“Voice recognition feature” means the function of a connected device that allows for the collection, recording, storage, analysis, transmission, interpretation, or other use of spoken words or other sounds to use the integrated virtual assistant, but shall not include voice commands that are not recorded or transmitted beyond the connected device via the Internet.

3. a. A manufacturer shall not provide for the operation of a voice recognition feature on a connected device without prominently informing either the user performing the initial setup or installation of the connected device or the person designated by the user to perform the initial setup or installation of the connected device that the connected device has a voice recognition feature.

b. An actual recording of a spoken word collected through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer for the purpose of improving the voice recognition feature, including, but not limited to, the operation of an accessible user interface for people with disabilities, shall not be used for any advertising purpose, stored, or shared with or sold to a third party, unless the user provides written consent.

c. An actual recording of a spoken word collected through the operation of a voice recognition feature by a third party contracting with a manufacturer for the purpose of improving the voice recognition feature, including, but not limited to, the operation of an accessible user interface for people with disabilities shall not be used for any advertising purpose, stored, or shared with or sold to a third party, unless the user provides written consent.

d. A person or entity shall not compel a manufacturer to build specific features for the purpose of allowing an investigative or law enforcement officer to monitor communications through the voice recognition feature.

e. A manufacturer shall be liable for the functionality of the voice recognition feature provided at the time of the original sale of a connected device with a voice recognition feature and shall not be liable for the functionality provided by application software that the user chooses to use on the Internet or chooses to download and install.

4. It shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) to violate the provisions of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill, entitled “The Consumer Electronic Voice Recognition Information Act,” prohibits an manufacturer from operating a voice recognition feature on a connected device without prominently informing either the user performing the initial setup or installation of the connected device or the person designated by the user to perform the initial setup or installation of the connected device that the connected device has a voice recognition feature. The terms “connected device,” “manufacturer,” “user,” and “voice recognition feature” are defined in the bill.

The bill provides that an actual recording of a spoken word collected through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer, or a third party contracting with the manufacturer, for the purpose of improving the voice recognition feature is not to be used for any advertising purpose, stored, or shared with or sold to a third party, unless the user provides written consent.

The bill further provides that a person or entity is not to compel an manufacturer to build specific features for the purpose of allowing an investigative or law enforcement officer to monitor communications through the voice recognition feature and a manufacturer is to only be liable for the functionality of the voice recognition feature provided at the time of the original sale of a connected device with a voice recognition feature and is not to be liable for the functionality provided by application software that the user chooses to use on the Internet or chooses to download and install.

The bill provides that it is to be an unlawful practice and a violation of the consumer fraud act to violate the provisions of this bill, which includes a penalty of not more than $10,000 for the first offense and not more than $20,000 for the second and each subsequent offense.