Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On October 30, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with television streaming companies Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC (collectively, “Sling TV”) to resolve allegations that Sling TV violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Specifically, the California AG alleged that Sling TV failed to provide an easy way for consumers to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information and failed to provide sufficient privacy protections for minors.

The Sling TV investigation is the first enforcement action stemming from the California AG’s CCPA investigative sweep, announced in January 2024, to determine whether streaming services and connected TVs are complying with the CCPA’s opt-out of sale/sharing right.

The California AG alleged that Sling TV’s streaming platform delivers highly targeted advertising, using data such as age, gender, location and income to personalize ads for viewers. Sling TV was targeted in the investigative sweep due to its allegedly confusing and hard-to-find opt-out methods. The AG also alleged that Sling TV combined a cookie preference platform with the CCPA’s opt-out methods, but consumers still had to find an embedded link to a web form and complete multiple confirmation steps to submit an opt-out request. Additionally, the AG alleged that even logged-in users were required to submit their name, postal address, email address and phone number, information already known to Sling TV.

Further, the AG alleged that Sling TV failed to provide opt-out methods within its apps on various connected living room devices, and failed to offer children’s profiles that would either prohibit targeted advertising or require consent to serve targeted advertising to minors under 16.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Sling TV will pay $530,000 in civil penalties and be required to simplify its opt-out methods. The settlement also requires Sling TV to provide clear tools and disclosures to limit the collection and use of minors’ personal information.

Specifically, the proposed settlement requires Sling TV to do the following: 

• Stop directing consumers seeking to exercise their CCPA opt-out rights to a cookie preference platform.
• Stop requiring logged-in users to fill out a web form with information already known to Sling TV, which adds unnecessary steps and could deter consumers from exercising their opt-out rights. 
• Provide an opt-out mechanism within the Sling TV app on various living room devices.
• Allow parents to designate one or more user profiles as a “kid’s profile” that disables the sale or sharing of personal information and targeted advertising by default.
• Provide parents with clear disclosures and tools to protect their children’s privacy.