California Attorney General Rob Bonta, co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general and charitable regulators, sent a letter to GoFundMe demanding the platform remove all plagiarized donation web pages for over 1.4 million charities, disclose information about donations, and ensure pages do not outrank official charity sites in search results. The action follows reports that GoFundMe used charities' information without consent and engaged in deceptive solicitations, violating state charitable solicitation and consumer protection laws.
GoFundMe must provide proof of removal of all unauthorized donation pages within 14 days, disclose all information affecting donation decisions (such as who donations were made to instead of charities), and explain how it ensured plagiarized pages did not appear above official charity websites in internet search results.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor and platform agreements with charitable organizations, as well as any data processing or partnership contracts where charity information is used. Key clauses to examine include data usage and licensing terms, intellectual property representations and warranties, accuracy of solicitation materials, audit rights, and termination for breach provisions. Specific changes may be needed to require explicit, prior written consent from charities before using their information or creating derivative pages, add warranties that solicitations are accurate and non-misleading, include obligations to ensure third-party pages do not outrank official charity sites in search results, and mandate prompt removal of any unauthorized content upon request. Agreements should also clarify disclosure requirements regarding where donations are directed and provide robust indemnification for the charity.
Entity
GoFundMe
Industry
TechnologyOfficial Press Release
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-co-leads-bipartisan-coalition-demanding-gofundme-prove
03 03 26 GoFundMe Multistate Letter
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/03-03-26%20GoFundMe%20Multistate%20Letter.pdf
California Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-enforcement-actions
"GoFundMe is an internet platform for people to fundraise and solicit donations"
"Under Government Code section 12580 et seq., the Attorney General may investigate and bring legal actions"
"Without the prior consent or knowledge of charities, GoFundMe plagiarized donation web pages for over 1.4 million charities"
The California Privacy Protection Agency announced that the California State Legislature approved the Expanding Privacy Rights Act (SB 923), which expands the CCPA's right to delete to cover all non-exempt personal information a business holds about a consumer, including data originally collected from third parties. The bill also requires online-only businesses with a direct relationship to consumers to provide online methods, such as webforms, for submitting access, deletion, and correction requests, and expressly permits businesses to retain suppression lists so deleted information stays deleted. The bill, authored by Senator Becker and sponsored by CalPrivacy, now goes to the Governor for consideration.
A bipartisan coalition of 33 state attorneys general, led by Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, began trial against Meta Platforms, Inc., alleging the company knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Facebook and Instagram that drive children and teens to use the platforms compulsively, while falsely assuring parents and the public that its platforms were safe for young users. The states also allege Meta illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, violating COPPA. The trial opened before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, with the states seeking monetary penalties and injunctive relief.
A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by Colorado AG Phil Weiser, obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal court in California to halt the proposed $110 billion merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Paramount Skydance Corporation. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by substantially lessening competition in film distribution, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and licensing cable TV channels.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) joined a coalition of 18 Attorneys General and state agencies in opposing the proposed SECURE Data Act, a federal privacy bill that would preempt stronger state privacy laws like the CCPA. The coalition argues the bill would weaken consumer privacy protections, limit enforcement remedies, and undermine California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP).
A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general began trial against Meta Platforms, Inc., alleging the company knowingly designed addictive features on Facebook and Instagram that harm children and teens, deceived parents about platform safety, and illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent in violation of COPPA. The states seek monetary penalties, an injunction to stop unlawful practices, and other relief. The trial is being litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
$12.8M
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with multiple district attorneys and the California Privacy Protection Agency, announced a $12.75 million settlement with General Motors for illegally selling hundreds of thousands of Californians' location and driving data to data brokers Verisk and LexisNexis without notice or consent. The settlement includes the largest CCPA penalty to date, a five-year ban on selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies, and requirements to delete retained data and implement a robust privacy program.