New California Law on actors age data

We have blogged several times over the years about issues of age discrimination in the entertainment industry.  Specifically we discussed concerns about revealing actors and actresses ages in the IMDb site back in 2011 and a subsequent legal case in 2013.

Now a law has been passed in California which comes into effect on 1st Jan 2017 which states that individuals can request to have their date of birth removed from public display on websites etc.

Response has been mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter suggesting that experts feel the new law could be unconstitutional and represent a restriction on free speech.  However others argue that the availability of age related data enables and facilitates an illegal employment practice, namely age discrimination.  Further, as an article in the Australian press reflects: “in a society and culture in which we often seem to believe we have a right to access the personal lives of people in general, and women in particular, this legislation points toward another way”.