BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1222
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 1222 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
SUBJECT : Public postsecondary education: alumni: disclosure.
SUMMARY : Removes the January 1, 2011, sunset date on the
University of California's (UC) and the California State
University's (CSU) ability to participate in affinity programs,
thereby allowing UC and CSU to continue to release the names and
addresses of their alumni to businesses with whom they have
affinity-partner agreements, providing certain privacy
requirements are met.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Contains a body of statutes, known as the "California
Information Practices Act of 1977" (CIPA), which prohibits an
individual's name and address from being distributed for
commercial purposes or being sold or rented by a state office,
officer, department, division, bureau, board, commission or
other state agency, unless such action is specifically
authorized by law (Civil Code Section 1798.60).
2)Prohibits financial institutions from sharing or selling
personally identifiable nonpublic information without
obtaining a consumer's consent, known as the California
Financial Information Privacy Act (CFIPA), which was
established by SB 1 (Speier), Chapter 241, Statutes of 2003.
CFIPA controls the disclosure of names, addresses, telephone
numbers and electronic addresses by financial institutions
within the context of an agreement with an affinity partner.
3)Permits UC, CSU, and Hastings College of the Law (HCL) to
release the names and addresses of their alumni to businesses
with whom they have affinity-partner agreements, providing
certain privacy requirements are met [SB 569 (Torlakson),
Chapter 498, Statutes of 2005].
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Judiciary Committee.
AB 1222
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Background : It is common practice for public and private
universities to offer benefits and services through affinity
partnerships with commercial vendors to alumni as one way to
stay connected to their university. However, CFIPA coupled with
the prohibition on the distribution of personal information
under CIPA, resulted in ambiguity about the authority of
agencies subject to the CIPA to enter into affinity agreements
with financial institutions. SB 569 addressed this ambiguity as
follows:
1)Permits UC, CSU and HCL to distribute the name, addresses and
email addresses of their respective alumni for the following
purposes: to provide informational materials relating to the
college or university, to provide commercial opportunities,
and to promote and support the educational mission of the
college or university.
2)Requires the contracts with businesses who receive the alumni
information from UC, CSU, or HCL to:
a) Maintain the confidentiality of the names and addresses
of the alumni; UC, CSU, and/or HCL must retain the right to
approve or reject any purpose for which the information is
to be used;
b) Allow UC, CSU, and/or HCL to review the text of
mailings; and,
c) Prohibit the business from using the information for any
purposes other than those specifically allowed in the bill.
3)Prohibits the disclosure of the personal information of a)
alumni who have directed the trustees or an alumni association
not to disclose their names and addresses, b) current students
at the colleges or university, and c) alumni who as students
indicated that they did not want their information disclosed.
4)Requires the institutions to provide notice to the alumni, as
specified, and requires the instructions to provide alumni
with multiple opportunities to opt not to have the alumni
association share their information with the affinity
partners.
What are affinity programs ? An affinity program provides a
AB 1222
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means whereby a tax-exempt organization may generate funds by
allowing the use of its name and/or logo to endorse products or
services. In the case of UC and CSU, through partnerships with
commercial entities, affinity programs allow alumni
organizations to offer a variety of financial products to
graduates and alumni members, such as group rates and discounts
for home and auto insurance, mortgage programs, credit cards,
and other credit lines. In return for allowing access to alumni
association mailing lists, the affinity partner pays a fee to
the campus association.
Privacy protections : As noted previously, SB 569 requires a
contractual agreement with a commercial entity that, in essence,
restricts the use of the data to purposes that afford alumni,
governing body members, and alumni associations with commercial
opportunities that provide a benefit to them. In addition,
alumni must be given the opportunity to "opt out" of the sharing
their private information, and all affinity partnerships contain
confidentiality clauses that prohibit misuse of alumni
information. Finally, under no circumstances are campuses
allowed to share student information with affinity partners.
Staff is unaware of any problem or concerns that have arisen
related to UC's or CSU's affinity programs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Postsecondary Education Commission
University of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960