New California law empowers survivors to cut abusers off from shared online accounts

by Meisi Li, Peninsula Press December 4, 2025December 2, 2025

Smart locks and security cameras sit on display at a Best Buy store in Mountain View on Nov. 3, 2025. The devices are part of the growing market of connected home technology that a new California law aims to regulate by giving domestic violence survivors a process to disconnect abusers from shared accounts and devices. (Meisi Li via Bay City News)

VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE in California will soon have a legal process to revoke their abuser’s access to connected smart devices such as smart locks, home cameras and online accounts, under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October.

Senate Bill 50, authored by state Sen. Angelique Ashby (D-Sacramento), requires companies to disable a perpetrator’s access to shared smart devices within two business days once a survivor requests it. The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

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