BILL NUMBER: AB 953 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 7, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 25, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to amend Section 1808.22 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 953, as amended, Eng. Department of Motor Vehicles: records:
confidentiality.
Existing law requires the residence address in a record of the
Department of Motor Vehicles to be kept confidential, with specified
exceptions. One exception applies to an insurance company when the
company requests the information for the purpose of obtaining the
address of another motorist or vehicle owner involved in an accident
with the company's insured.
This bill would expand this exception to include an authorized
contractor acting on behalf of an insurance company pursuant to a
contractual agreement. This bill would require that, among other
things, all information obtained from the department by an authorized
contractor of an insurance company be subject to the use or
disclosure limitations and data security requirements that exist for
any principal under applicable state and federal law. The bill would
require an insurance company to be responsible for any misuse of the
information by the contractor. The bill would also subject the
contractor to, among other things, the requirement that the
information obtained from the department be destroyed once the
contractor has used the information for the authorized purpose.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1808.22 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
1808.22. (a) Section 1808.21 does not apply to a financial
institution licensed by the state or federal government to do
business in the State of California, if the financial institution
states under penalty of perjury that it has obtained a written waiver
of Section 1808.21 signed by the individual whose address is
requested, or to providing the address of a person who has entered
into an agreement held by that institution prior to July 1, 1990, so
long as that agreement remains in effect.
(b) (1) Section 1808.21 does not apply to an insurance company
licensed to do business in California, or to an authorized contractor
acting on behalf of that insurance company, pursuant to a
contractual agreement, if the company or contractor, under penalty of
perjury, requests the information for the purpose of obtaining the
address of another motorist or vehicle owner involved in an accident
with the company's insured.
(2) Section 1808.21 does not apply to an insurance company
licensed to do business in California if the company, under penalty
of perjury, requests the information on an individual who
has signed a written waiver of Section 1808.21 or on the individuals
insured under a policy if a named insured of that policy has signed a
written waiver.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Vehicle Code
and regulations adopted by the department, all information obtained
from the department pursuant to the exemptions in subdivision (b)
shall be subject to the existing use or disclosure limitations and
data security requirements for the principal under applicable state
and federal law.
(2) Use or disclosure limitations and data security requirements
imposed on an authorized contractor by this subdivision shall be
enforced by the department in compliance with its existing
regulations governing the use or disclosure of information obtained
from the department pursuant to subdivision (b).
(3) The use or disclosure of information obtained from the
department by an authorized contractor of the insurance company
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall be permitted only
for the purpose of obtaining the address of another motorist or
vehicle owner involved in an accident with the company's insured. The
information shall not be used or disclosed for any other purpose,
other than the reason for which the information was requested, or to
any other person.
(4) An insurance company shall be responsible for any misuse of
the information by the authorized contractor.
(5) An authorized contractor is subject to all of the following
requirements:
(A) All information obtained by the contractor from the department
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), and any copies made of
that information, shall be destroyed by the contractor pursuant to
Section 1798.81 of the Civil Code, once the contractor has used the
information for the purpose of obtaining the address of a motorist or
vehicle owner involved in an accident with individuals insured with
the insurer.
(B) The contractor shall not sell the information obtained from
the department or store, combine, or link that information with a
database for resale or for any purpose other than obtaining the
address of a motorist or vehicle owner involved in an accident with
individuals insured with the insurer.
(C) The contractor shall maintain a log to track the receipt, use,
and dissemination of the information. The log shall be immediately
available to the department upon request and maintained for four
years from the date of the request.
(D) The contractor shall maintain a surety bond in the amount of
fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), consistent with subdivision (c) of
Section 1810.2 and Section 350.24 of Title 13 of the California Code
of Regulations.
(E) A contractor that violates this section shall be liable to the
department for civil penalties up to the amount of one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000), and, if the contractor is a commercial
requester pursuant to Section 1810.2, the contractor shall also have
his or her requester code suspended for a period of five years, or
revoked, pursuant to Section 1808.46.
(d) Section 1808.21 does not apply to an attorney if the attorney
states, under penalty of perjury, that the motor vehicle or vessel
registered owner or driver residential address information is
necessary in order to represent his or her client in a criminal or
civil action that directly involves the use of the motor vehicle or
vessel that is pending, is to be filed, or is being investigated.
Information requested pursuant to this subdivision is subject to all
of the following:
(1) The attorney shall state that the criminal or civil action
that is pending, is to be filed, or is being investigated relates
directly to the use of that motor vehicle or vessel.
(2) The case number, if any, or the names of expected parties to
the extent they are known to the attorney requesting the information,
shall be listed on the request.
(3) A residence address obtained from the department shall not be
used for any purpose other than in furtherance of the case cited or
action to be filed or that is being investigated.
(4) If an action is not filed within a reasonable time, the
residence address information shall be destroyed.
(5) An attorney shall not request residential address information
pursuant to this subdivision in order to sell the information to a
person.
(6) Within 10 days of receipt of a request, the department shall
notify every individual whose residence address has been requested
pursuant to this subdivision.
(e) A knowing violation of paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of
subdivision (d) is a misdemeanor. A knowing violation of paragraph
(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subdivision (d) in furtherance of
another crime is subject to the same penalties as that other crime.