BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 953|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 953
Author: Eng (D)
Amended: 7/15/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 1/27/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Department of Motor Vehicles: records:
confidentiality
SOURCE : California Association of Collectors
DIGEST : This bill permits the disclosure of residence
address information in Department of Motor Vehicles records
to an authorized contractor of an insurance company.
Information could only be disclosed for the purpose of
obtaining the address of another motorist or vehicle owner
involved in an accident with the company's insured.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that any residence
address in Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records is
confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person
except a court, law enforcement or other government agency,
or as specified in Sections 1808.22 and 1808.23 of the
Vehicle Code (VEH). (VEH Section 1808.21)
CONTINUED
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Existing law provides that residence address information
may be released to an insurance company when the company,
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. Residence information may also be released to an
insurance company when the company requests the information
about an individual who has signed a written waiver of
Section 1808.21 or when the requested information relates
to individuals insured under the policy if a named insured
has signed the written waiver. (VEH Section 1808.22(b))
Existing law provides that any residential addresses
released by DMV may not be used for direct marketing or
solicitation for the purchase of any consumer product or
service. (VEH Section 1808.23(d))
Existing law also requires any person who has access to
confidential or restricted DMV information to establish
procedures to protect the confidentiality of those records.
Existing law specifies that if any confidential or
restricted information is released to any agent of a person
authorized to obtain information, the person shall require
the agent to take all steps necessary to ensure
confidentiality and prevent the release of any information
to a third party. No agent shall obtain or use any
confidential or restricted records for any purpose other
than the reason the information was requested. (VEH
Section 1808.47)
This bill revises the above exemption to provide that the
prohibition on the release of residence information does
not apply to an authorized contractor of the insurance
company when the contractor 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 provides that the information shall not
be used or disclosed for any other purpose or to any other
person.
This bill provides that all information obtained by
insurance companies, or their authorized contractors, from
the department shall be subject to existing state and
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federal limitations on the use or disclosure of the
information and data security requirements that are
applicable to the principal (i.e., the insurer).
This bill specifies that DMV shall enforce use or
disclosure limitations and data security requirements that
are imposed on authorized contractors in compliance with
DMV's regulations.
This bill requires an insurance company to be responsible
for any misuse of the information by the contractor. This
bill also subjects the contactor to, among other things,
the requirement that the information obtained from DMV be
destroyed once the contractor has used the information for
the authorized purpose.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/2/10)
California Association of Collectors (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes: "AB 953 allows
insurance company agents to obtain home address records
from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with the same
high level of protection that those records already receive
under current law. ? Under current law, there is an
uncertainty as to whether insurance companies can authorize
collection agencies to use the insurers' access to DMV
records in order to determine the home addresses of, and
thereby make contact with, drivers and vehicle owners who
have been involved in accidents with parties that they
insure."
The author further explains, "[the bill] adds authorized
agents and employees under one circumstance only, where
another motorist or vehicle owner is involved in an
accident with the company's insured. The intent is to
allow insurance companies who use a collection agency for
account management to authorize the release directly to the
agency rather than asking for it and then sending it to the
agency. This reduces business costs and risks to privacy
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from multiple disclosures and transmissions. The bill also
makes it clear that all applicable privacy and data
security requirements must be followed."
The bill's sponsor, the California Association of
Collectors (CAC), writes that "[a]ddress information is
critical to protect consumers by validating proper identity
or preventing fraud and mis-identification. The bill makes
it clear that all existing privacy and data security laws
apply and that DMV enforcement processes also apply."
CAC indicates that "[c]ollectors get DMV address
information now in this situation to locate the owner, the
financially responsible party in a vehicle accident, when
the vehicle may have been operated by a non owner driver.
The collector is seeking the legally liable party who is
financially responsible for the damages in the accident.
They are also seeking to verify the correct identity to
avoid going after the wrong party and verifying the correct
owner because title [to] the vehicle may have changed
several times since the accident."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller,
Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Carter, Hall, V. Manuel Perez,
Torlakson, Bass
RJG:mw 8/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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