Privacy Legislation Enacted in 2014

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The California Legislature considers many bills on privacy issues each year. This page summarizes some of the recently enacted bills. The listing of these bills does not imply a position of support or opposition to any of them. To get more information on the bills and their status, go to http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

Unless otherwise noted, laws go into effect January 1, 2015

  • AB 1710 (Dickinson and Wieckowski) Data Breach, Information Security, SSN Confidentiality
    This law requires a person or business that is the source of a breach of Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers to offer identity theft prevention and mitigation services to affected individuals at no cost, for no less than 12 months. It expands the information security law to require businesses that maintain, as well as those that own or license, the personal information of California residents to use reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect the information. It also prohibits the sale or marketing of Social Security numbers, with certain exceptions. Civil Code §§ 1798.81.5, 1798.82, 1798.85

  • AB 928 (Olsen) State Agency Privacy Policies
    This law requires state agencies to conspicuously post privacy policies on their websites. Government Code § 11019.9

  • SB 1177 (Steinberg) K-12 Student Privacy
    This law prohibits operators of Internet Web sites or online services used primarily for K-12 school purposes from knowingly engaging in targeted advertising on any site or service based upon any information that the operator has acquired from K-12 school purposes. It also prohibits such operators from using covered information to amass a profile of a K-12 student, selling students’ information or, except in certain special circumstances, disclosing covered information. It would require operators to use reasonable and appropriate security practices to protect the covered information from unauthorized access or use, and to delete a student’s covered information at the controlling school or district’s request. This bill goes into effect January 1, 2016. Business & Professions Code § 22584 et seq.

  • AB 1584 (Buchanan) Privacy of Pupil Records: 3rd-Party Digital Storage & Education Software
    This law allows California educational agencies to contract with third parties to store digital pupil records, including via cloud-based services, and to provide educational software, subject to certain requirements and prohibitions. The law requires the contract to include specified provisions, including a statement that the pupil records continue to be the property of and under the control of the local educational agency, a description of the actions the 3rd party will take to ensure the security and confidentiality of pupil records, and a description of how the local educational agency and the 3rd party will jointly ensure compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The prohibitions address unauthorized use of any pupil record information, and use of personally identifiable information in pupil records to engage in targeted advertising. The law provides that a contract that fails to comply with the requirements of this bill be rendered void if certain conditions are satisfied. It also provides that, if its provisions are in conflict with the terms of a contract in effect before January 1, 2015, the provisions shall not apply to the local educational agency or the 3rd party subject to that agreement until the expiration, amendment, or renewal of the agreement. Education Code § 49073.1

  • AB 1442 (Gatto) Pupil Records: Social Media
    This law requires schools and school districts, if they consider gathering or maintaining information about their pupils from social media, to notify pupils and their parents or guardians about the program and provide an opportunity for public comment. The law requires that any such information collected relate to school or pupil safety and that pupils have access to, and an opportunity to correct or delete their own information. It imposes certain other limits on the use and disclosure of such information, including that such information be destroyed within one year after the pupil turns 18 or is no longer enrolled. Education Code § 49073.6

  • AB 1658 (Jones-Sawyer) Foster Care: Consumer Credit Reports
    This law amends existing law to require a county welfare or probation department to contact the three major consumer credit reporting agencies when a child in foster care reaches the age of 16 and to inquire as to whether such a child has a credit history, as specified. It provides that if a credit history is found, the responsible department must request a consumer credit report from the agency. Where an automated process is available, the State Department of Social Services may make this inquiry and it must notify the appropriate county welfare or probation department of the results. Welfare & Institutions Code § 10618.6

  • AB 2643 (Wieckowski) Invasion of Privacy: Distribution of Sexually Explicit Materials
    This law creates a private right of action against a person who intentionally, and without the consent of the subject, distributes a photograph or recorded image of another that exposes intimate body parts or shows engagement in specified sexual acts. It establishes affirmative defenses (such as consent, waiver, or matters of public concern), authorizes equitable relief in a civil proceeding, and allows a plaintiff to use a pseudonym. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2015. Civil Code § 1708.85

  • SB 1255 (Cannella) Disorderly Conduct: Unlawful Distribution of Image
    This law amends existing law to further define as disorderly conduct the intentional distribution of an image of another person’s intimate body parts, or depicting engagement in specified sexual acts under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image remain private, the person distributing the image knows or should have known that distribution of the image will cause serious emotional distress, and the person depicted suffers that distress. This law is not violated if distribution is made in the course of reporting an unlawful activity, in compliance with a subpoena, or in the course of a lawful public proceeding. Penal Code § 647

  • SB 828 (Lieu & Anderson) The 4th Amendment Protection Act
    This law prohibits the State of California from providing “material support, participation, or assistance in response to a request from a federal agency or employee of a federal agency to collect stored information or metadata of any person if the state has actual knowledge that the request constitutes an illegal collection of electronically stored information or metadata.” Government Code § 7599

  • AB 1755 (Gomez) Data Breach Reporting: Licensed Health Facilities
    This law amends existing law so that a clinic, health facility, home health agency, or hospice licensed by the State Department of Public Health now has 15 business days, instead of five, to report to the Department unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, a patient’s medical information. The law also increases to 15 days the time to notify the affected patient or patient’s representative at their last known address (unless a delay is authorized for specified law enforcement purposes) and permits alternative means or location of such reporting, including by email if previously authorized by the patient. Health & Safety Code § 1280.15

  • AB 2306 (Chau) Constructive Invasion of Privacy: Liability
    This law amends existing law to impose liability on a person who uses “any device” to capture an image, sound recording, or other physical impression of another person engaging in a personal or familial activity in which the other person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, where the device that permitted the capture could not have done so without a physical trespass unless the device was used. The author’s intent in drafting the bill was “to better encompass future advances in technology” such as unmanned aircraft system or “drone” technology. Civil Code § 1708.8

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