Over the past year, the Secure Resilient Future Foundation (SRFF) and our partners took an important step toward addressing one of the technology industry’s fastest-growing problems: smart, connected products that are abandoned by their manufacturers while they are still in use.
Three States Introduce End of Life Disclosure Bills
Working with lawmakers, SRFF helped advance legislation in New York, California and Massachusetts based on the Connected Consumer Product End of Life Disclosure model developed with our partners. While none of those bills ultimately passed their respective state legislatures, they put the problem of “bricked and abandoned” devices squarely before lawmakers—and established a strong foundation for the work ahead.
- In New York, Senator Patricia Fahy introduced S.8507, the Connected Consumer Product End of Life Disclosure Act. The legislation was amended twice but remained in the Senate Internet and Technology Committee.
- In California, Senator Akilah Weber Pierson’s SB 898 went considerably further. The bill passed the California Senate and advanced through Assembly policy committees before being held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 13.
- And in Massachusetts, legislation introduced by Senator William Brownsberger and Representative David Rogers received a public hearing in June. (Check out our blog post about that hearing.) The Senate proposal was favorably reported from the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure as S.3190 and referred to Senate Ways and Means, while the House proposal, H.5114, was sent to a study order. Neither became law.
The work continues…
The idea behind these bills is simple: Consumers deserve to know how long the connected products they buy will receive the software support and security updates they need to remain safe and functional. Manufacturers should also provide clear notice when that support is ending, rather than leaving owners to discover—sometimes after the fact—that a device they rely on has been abandoned.
As we look ahead to the coming legislative sessions in New Year, SRFF is working with Consumer Reports, U.S. PIRG and the Center for Democracy and Technology to take what we learned from this legislative cycle and improve and update the model legislation. In the coming months, we plan to bring stronger proposals back to lawmakers in New York, California and Massachusetts—and introduce them in additional states.
The first legislative push did not end with bills on governors’ desks. But it did make notable progress and start an important conversation within state houses (and maybe even Capitol Hill?) about ensuring the security, longevity and resilience of the billions of connected products entering our homes, workplaces and communities, and setting proper expectations for corporations when it comes to maintaining smart devices they sell to the public.
In other words: this fight is just getting started! If you’d like to get involved, visit our volunteer sign up page. We’d love to have you on the team as we look to build a more secure and resilient future for our planet!