Penalty Amount
$530,000
California Attorney General Rob Bonta secured a $530,000 settlement with Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC, resolving allegations that the streaming service violated the CCPA by failing to provide an easy-to-use opt-out mechanism for the sale of personal information and insufficient privacy protections for children. The settlement, subject to court approval, requires Sling TV to implement streamlined opt-out processes across all devices, stop redirecting users to cookie preferences for CCPA opt-outs, and add kid-specific profiles with default opt-out of data sales and targeted advertising. This is the first enforcement action from the DOJ's 2024 investigative sweep of streaming services.
Sling TV must pay $530,000 in CCPA civil penalties. The company is permanently enjoined from directing consumers to cookie preferences for CCPA opt-out requests, requiring logged-in users to submit redundant personal information via webforms to opt out, and failing to provide opt-out mechanisms within its streaming apps on connected devices. Sling TV must also implement kid-specific user profiles that default to opt-out of personal information sales and targeted advertising, provide parents with clear privacy disclosures and tools to protect children's data, and ensure opt-out processes are easy to use, require minimal steps, and are accessible across all platforms. The settlement is subject to court approval.
In-house legal teams should review customer-facing privacy policies, terms of service, and vendor agreements with advertising partners, connected TV device manufacturers, and app store platforms to align with this enforcement action. Specifically, review opt-out process clauses to prohibit linking CCPA opt-out requests to cookie preference settings, eliminate redundant information requirements for logged-in users exercising opt-out rights, and mandate opt-out functionality across all streaming apps and connected devices. For children's data, review clauses related to data collection and targeted advertising to require kid-specific user profiles with default opt-out of personal information sales and targeted ads, and affirmative opt-in consent for users under 16. Privacy policy clauses should be updated to include clear, accessible disclosures for parents regarding children's data practices and available privacy tools.
Entity
Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC
Also known as: Sling TV
Industry
Media & EntertainmentOfficial Press Release
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-secures-530000-settlement-sling-tv-first-enforcement
Complaint For Injunction, Civil Penalties, And Other Equitab
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Complaint%20For%20Injunction%2C%20Civil%20Penalties%2C%20And%20Other%20Equitable%20Relief.pdf
Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction (People v Sling TV)
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Final%20Judgment%20and%20Permanent%20Injunction%20%28People%20v%20Sling%20TV%29.pdf
California Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-enforcement-actions
"Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC (Sling TV)"
"agreed to pay $530,000 in CCPA civil penalties"
"violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)"
"failing to provide an easy-to-use method for consumers to stop the sale of their personal information and by failing to provide sufficient privacy protections for children"
"did not offer kids profiles that would reduce the use of targeted advertising when children are watching or otherwise obtain affirmative 'opt-in' authorization when minors under the age of 16 were likely watching"
"Thursday, October 30, 2025"
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by attorneys general from seven other states, filed a lawsuit to block the $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by reducing competition in local TV markets, leading to higher prices, less local news, and job losses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to block the expansion of IPEDS data collection requiring colleges to submit race-linked student data. The lawsuit argues the demand is arbitrary, capricious, and burdensome, and could enable costly partisan investigations. A multistate coalition co-led the challenge.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of state attorneys general announced they will continue their antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster after the U.S. Department of Justice settled the case. The states aim to hold Live Nation accountable for anticompetitive conduct that harms consumers, artists, and venues in the live music industry.
$376K
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) settled with Ford Motor Company requiring the company to pay a $375,703 fine and change its practices. Ford violated the CCPA by requiring consumers to complete an email verification step before they could opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information collected through digital properties and connected vehicle services. In addition to the fine, Ford must provide easy methods to submit opt-out requests with minimal steps, audit its tracking technologies, and ensure compliance with opt-out preference signals including Global Privacy Control.
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.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opposing a proposed rule that would eliminate model card requirements for AI tools in healthcare, warning that such rollbacks could lead to biased and unsafe healthcare decisions by reducing transparency.