THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1.  It is the intent of the Legislature that this act protect California consumers from the use of spyware and malware that is deceptively or surreptitiously installed on their computers. Because the threats posed by these practices change over time, it is the intent of the Legislature to revise the provisions in this act as needed to fully protect consumers from additional unfair and deceptive practices and to address future innovations in computer technology and practices.

CHAPTER 32.  CONSUMER PROTECTION AGAINST COMPUTER SPYWARE ACT

22947.2.  A person or entity that is not an authorized user, as defined in Section 22947.1, shall not, with actual knowledge, with conscious avoidance of actual knowledge, or willfully, cause computer software to be copied onto the computer of a consumer in this state and use the software to do any of the following:

(a) Modify, through intentionally deceptive means, any of the following settings related to the computer's access to, or use of, the Internet:

(b) Collect, through intentionally deceptive means, personally identifiable information that meets any of the following criteria:

(1) It is collected through the use of a keystroke-logging function that records all keystrokes made by an authorized user who uses the computer and transfers that information from the computer to another person.

(e) Through intentionally deceptive means, remove, disable, or render inoperative security, antispyware, or antivirus software installed on the computer.