Attorney General Bonta Secures $530,000 Settlement with Sling TV, First Enforcement Action from DOJ's Sweep of Streaming Services

Sling TV confused and misdirected consumers seeking to exercise their right to stop the sale of their personal information 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today secured a settlement with Sling TV LLC and Dish Media Sales LLC (Sling TV), a streaming service, resolving allegations that the company violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by 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. The investigation and proposed settlement arise from the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigative sweep announced in January 2024, which focused on the compliance of streaming services and connected TVs with CCPA’s right to opt-out. Under the proposed settlement, Sling TV has agreed to pay $530,000 in CCPA civil penalties and implement changes to ensure the CCPA opt-out is easy for consumers to execute, requires minimal steps, and considers the way the business interacts with consumers. The settlement, subject to court approval, also requires the company to provide parents with clear disclosures and tools to minimize collection and use of their children’s data. 

“Californians have critical privacy rights. Our investigative sweep looked at all the different ways consumers should be able to stop the sale of their data when using streaming services,” said Attorney General Bonta “We take privacy rights seriously and Sling TV was not providing consumers an easy way to opt-out of the sale of their personal data as required. My office is committed to the continued enforcement of the CCPA — every Californian has the right to their online privacy, especially in the comfort of their living room.”  

Sling TV is an internet-based live TV service that offers both a paid subscription and a free, ad-supported streaming service. Unlike traditional television, where advertising is based on the content of the programming, Sling TV uses its internet-based platform to deliver highly targeted advertising, using detailed consumer data such as age, gender, location, and income to personalize ads for viewers, often without their awareness.   

In 2024, DOJ identified Sling TV as a target in its investigative sweep, because of Sling TV’s confusing and hard-to-find methods to opt-out of the sale and sharing of personal information. Sling TV combined cookie preferences with the CCPA opt-out, even though to truly opt-out, turning off cookies was insufficient. Consumers had to look for an embedded link to a webform and click through confirmation steps to complete their request. Even logged-in customers, where Sling TV knew the identity of the customer, had to fill out a webform with their name, address, email, and phone number — information already known to Sling TV. Additionally, Sling TV did not provide methods to opt-out within its apps on various living-room devices. Nor did they 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.  

Under the settlement Sling TV must: 

• Stop directing consumers seeking to implement their CCPA out-out rights to cookie preferences.
• Stop requiring logged-in customers to fill out a webform with information already available to the business, 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, so consumers accessing Sling TV on various devices do not need to go to Sling TV’s website to opt-out.
• Allow parents to designate one or more user profiles as a “kid’s profile” that defaults off the sale and sharing of personal information and targeted advertising.
• Provide parents with clear disclosures and tools to protect their children’s privacy. 

The CCPA is a landmark law that secures increased privacy rights for California consumers, such as the right to know how businesses collect, share, and disclose their personal information. Businesses that are subject to the CCPA have specific responsibilities, including responding to consumer requests to exercise these rights and giving consumers certain notices explaining their privacy practices. 

Attorney General Bonta is committed to the robust enforcement California’s nation-leading privacy law. In March, the CCPA investigative sweep into the location data industry involved sending letters to advertising networks, mobile app providers, and data brokers that appear to be in violation of the CCPA. Attorney General Bonta has conducted investigative sweeps related to location data, streaming apps and devices, and employee information.

Today’s settlement represents the fifth settlement under the CCPA: 

In July 2025, Attorney General Bonta announced a $1,550,000 settlement with website publisher Healthline Media LLC, resolving allegations that its use of online tracking technology on its health information website violated the CCPA by failing to allow customers to opt-out of targeted advertising and sharing data with third parties without CCPA-mandated privacy protections — including data suggesting that a person may have a serious health condition. In June 2024, Attorney General Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced a $500,000 settlement with Tilting Point Media LLC resolving allegations that the company violated the CCPA and federal law by collecting and sharing children’s data without parental consent in their popular mobile app game “SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off.”  In February 2024, Attorney General Bonta announced a settlement with DoorDash, resolving allegations that the company violated the CCPA and CalOPPA, by selling California customers’ personal information without providing notice or an opportunity to opt out of that sale.  In August 2022, the Attorney General announced a settlement with Sephora resolving allegations that it failed to disclose to consumers that it was selling their personal information and failed to process opt-out requests via user-enabled global privacy controls in violation of the CCPA. 

For more information about the CCPA, visit oag.ca.gov/ccpa. To report a violation of the CCPA to the Attorney General, consumers can submit a complaint online at oag.ca.gov/report.

A copy of the complaint can be found here. A copy of the proposed judgment, subject to court approval, can be found here.