BILL ANALYSIS
SB 247
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 18, 2002
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
SB 247 (Speier) - As Amended: June 10, 2002
SENATE VOTE : 36-1
SUBJECT : BIRTH AND DEATH CERTIFICATES: CERTIFIED COPIES:
ACCESS
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD A LIST OF PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO OBTAIN
CERTIFIED COPIES OF BIRTH AND DEATH RECORDS BE CREATED SUCH THAT
ALL UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS MAY ONLY OBTAIN INFORMATIONAL COPIES
WHICH (1) REMOVE ANY SIGNATURES APPEARING ON THE DOCUMENT AND
(2) CONTAIN THE STATEMENT "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT
TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY"?
SYNOPSIS
This bill, sponsored by the Department of Health Services, seeks
to control the release of and access to birth and death records
by providing that only an authorized person, as defined, who
submits a statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the
requester is an authorized person may obtain a certified copy of
a birth or death record. All other requesters who are not
authorized persons may obtain a certified copy, but the document
shall be an informational certified copy and shall be redacted
to remove any signatures that appear on the document. The
certified copy obtained by the non-authorized requester shall
also contain the statement "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT
TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY."
The bill also provides for special security features on
certified copies of birth and death records, fees to be charged
for certified copies, and the creation of a Vital Records
Protection Advisory Committee to study and make recommendations
to protect individual privacy, inhibit identity theft, and
prevent fraud involving birth and death certificates while
providing needed access to birth and death record information to
those seeking it for legitimate purposes.
Supporters argue that the bill is necessary in order to reduce
the ability of criminals to use birth and death certificates for
identity theft by providing that only those with a legitimate
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need for a certified copy of a birth certificate will be able to
obtain such a copy. All other copies issued will bear a
prominent disclosure indicating the document should not be used
for identification purposes.
SUMMARY : Seeks to control release of and access to birth and
death records. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the State Registrar, local registrar or county
recorder may provide a certified copy of a birth or death
record to an authorized person who submits a statement sworn
under penalty of perjury that the requester is an authorized
person.
2)Defines "authorized person" as any of the following:
a) The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the
registrant.
b) A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a
court order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency
seeking the birth record in order to comply with the
requirements of Family Code sections 3140 or 7603.
c) A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative
of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is
conducting official business.
d) A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or
domestic partner of the registrant.
e) An attorney representing the registrant or the
registrant's estate, or any person or agency empowered by
statute or appointed by a court to act on behalf of the
registrant or the registrant's estate.
f) A funeral director who has contracted with any of the
individuals specified above to provide funerary services
and obtain certified copies of death certificates on the
individual's behalf.
3)Provides that, in all other cases in which the requester does
not meet the requirements of an authorized person, a certified
copy may be provided to the requester but the document shall
be an informational certified copy and shall be redacted to
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remove any signatures that appear on the document. The
certified copy shall also contain the statement
"INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY."
4)Provides that informational certified copies of birth and
death certificates issued pursuant to the above shall only be
printed from the single statewide database prepared by the
State Registrar and local registrars and county recorders
shall not issue informational certified copies of birth and
death certificates from any source other than the statewide
database prepared by the State Registrar.
5)Provides that provisions 1) through 4), noted above shall
become operative on January 1, 2006.
6)Requires that, beginning July 1, 2003, certified copies of
birth and death records must contain specified information and
be printed on sensitized security paper with specified
features, including, among other things, a watermark,
fluorescent security threads, and fluorescent fibers and
requires that the State Registrar, local registrars, county
recorders, and county clerks take precautions to safeguard the
security paper.
7)Requires an applicant for a certified copy of a birth or death
record to pay, until January 1, 2006, an additional $2 fee to
be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the State
Registrar to develop safety and security measures to protect
against fraudulent use of birth and death records, including,
but not limited to, computerizing records, redacting and
removing signatures as required by law, and electronically
distributing redacted records to local registrars and county
recorders for their use in complying with specified sections.
The bill provides that this fee shall be reduced to
thirty-five cents commencing January 1, 2006.
8)Requires the State Registrar to appoint a Vital Records
Protection Advisory Committee to study and make
recommendations to protect individual privacy, inhibit
identity theft, and prevent fraud involving birth and death
certificates while providing needed access to birth and death
record information to those seeking it for legitimate
purposes.
EXISTING LAW requires the State Registrar, local registrar, or
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county recorder, upon request and payment of the required fee,
to supply to any applicant a certified copy of the record of any
birth, fetal death, death, marriage, or marriage dissolution
registered with the official. (Health and Safety Code section
103525.)
FISCAL EFFECT : The bill as currently in print is keyed
fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by the Department of Health
Services, is intended to control release of and access to birth
and death records. In support of the measure, the author
states:
I can get your birth certificate without presenting
any form of identification to the issuing authority
(county or state). California is the only state in
the nation that does not require ID when requesting a
birth certificate. With this birth certificate I (not
me, personally because I don't want to commit a crime)
can get your social security number and then I can
obtain a U.S. passport and a California driver's
license in your name. The California birth
certificate is a "breeder" document. In September
2000 the Office of the Inspector General, Department
of Health and Human Services, reported that valid
birth certificates are involved in 85 to 90 % of the
birth certificate fraud encountered by the Immigration
and Naturalization Services and Passport Services.
Remedy: Issue certified copies of the birth
certificate only to those authorized to receive
copies. This bill defines authorized people as any of
the following:
The person of record, a parent or legal
guardian;
A part entitled to receive it as the
result of a court order
An attorney
Licensed adoption agency
A member of law enforcement
A representative of another governmental
agency
A child, grandparent, grandchild,
sibling, spouse or domestic partner of the
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registrant
A funeral director under contract with
specified people
Everyone else would get a copy of a certificate that
would be stamped: "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT
TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY." Additionally, the signatures
on the document would be redacted (to prevent
forgeries). The bill also standardizes the type of
paper to be used on these documents while establishing
procedures to guard against misuse or theft of this
security paper. Finally, the bill creates a committee
of public and private vital record experts to advise
the State Registrar of Vital Records.
Background: Recent Sale Of Birth And Death Database Prompting
Need For The Measure. In November 2001, it was reported that
the state had sold the birth records of more than 24 million
Californians which were then posted on the Internet. In
response to this revelation, the Senate Insurance Committee, of
which the author is chair, held an informational hearing on
November 28, 2001, which demonstrated the ease with which
identity thieves can obtain personal information about others.
The hearing revealed that the State Registrar routinely sells
electronic compilations of public record information in CD-ROM
format to anyone who would pay for the records ($900) and that
the CD-ROMs are sold with no restrictions on their use. The
records sold covered births from 1905 to 1995, and included the
county of birth, the person's full name, date of birth and the
person's mother's maiden name. At least two private companies
had launched the CD-ROMs on the Internet, where they could be
accessed at no cost by anyone in the world. At the time, the
Mercury News reported:
Using the free genealogy Web site with the California
birth information, a legislative aide typed in the
name of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and
quickly came up with his mother's maiden name, along
with the date and county of his birth. 'That could
provide a thief with enough information to check
Lockyer's bank accounts or get a new birth
certificate,' Speier said. ("State sells birth data
to Web site, raising fears." The San Jose Mercury
News, November 29, 2001.)
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Concerns raised at this hearing prompted Governor Gray Davis to
issue an Executive Order halting the sale of birth and death
data by state agencies for 45 days. In addition, RootsWeb.com
offered to remove personal information regarding Californians,
if asked.
In May, after a six-month review of the issue, the Governor
proposed a legislative package regarding how the state controls
access to birth and death records. This bill represents a part
of that package. Another bill in the package, SB 1614 (Speier),
had contained controversial provisions restricting the viewing
of birth and death records to state and local officials' offices
and instituting a ban on the sale of such records. That bill
was recently amended to delete these provisions and instead
declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to
protect the confidentiality of birth and death record indices.
SB 1614 is currently awaiting referral at the Assembly Desk.
Inspector General Report On Role Birth Certificates Play In
Identity Theft. A September 2000 report issued by the Office of
the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services indicates that misuse of birth certificates plays a
major role in identity theft crimes. The report cites numerous
studies showing that stolen, counterfeit, and altered birth
certificates often are used as "breeder documents" allowing the
holder to obtain other documents to create new identities.
California is one of a minority of states that allows "open
access" to birth certificates, supplying a certified copy to any
applicant who pays the required fee, without even asking the
applicant's name. According to the Inspector General's report,
many states impose strict controls on the provision of certified
copies of birth certificates, from requiring proof of an
applicant's identity (in the form of a driver's license or other
document) to restricting the provision of a birth certificate to
only the person listed on the certificate and others
specifically designated for access.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The sponsor of the measure, the
Department of Health Services, writes:
[The bill] would reduce the ability of criminals to
use birth and death certificates for identity theft. ?
According to a report published by the Federal Trade
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Commission on January 7, 2002, California ranks second
in the United States in the number of identity theft
victims per 100,000 population. As identity theft has
grown, suspects have become actively engaged in the
collection of personal profiles, which can include or
be based on legitimate birth or death records. Under
current law, California's birth and death records are
a matter of public record and may be purchased by
anyone. While inhibiting those who would use birth
and death certificates to defraud others, the changes
introduced by this bill will continue to ensure access
for those who seek them for legitimate purposes.
The Office of the Attorney General supports the measure,
stating:
California is an open records state, so that anyone
who wishes can obtain a certified copy of anyone's
birth certificate. Such copies serve as "breeder"
documents in identity theft cases. Once the
perpetrator has obtained a birth certificate in
someone else's name, it then becomes easier to obtain
other documents, such as a driver's license, work
permit or passport, and use those to commit identity
theft. This bill addresses that problem by providing
that only those with a legitimate need for a certified
copy of a birth certificate will be able to obtain
such a copy. All other copies issued will bear a
prominent disclosure indicating the document should
not be used for identification purposes.
Pending Related Legislation. SB 1083 (Bowen), which provides
that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would limit the persons who may obtain certified copies of
birth certificates, was returned to the Secretary of the Senate
pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
SB 1614 (Speier), which, as noted above, declares the intent of
the Legislature to enact legislation to protect the
confidentiality of birth and death record indices, is awaiting
referral at the Assembly Desk.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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Department of Health Services (sponsor)
Attorney General's Office
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Saskia Kim / JUD. / (916) 319-2334