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"
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