BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1222 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
          As Amended  July 23, 2009
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |76-0 |(May 28, 2009)  |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 24,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2009)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:   HIGHER ED.  

           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.  

           The Senate amendments  :

          1)Require the opt-out form that UC and CSU must provide to  
            alumni prior to releasing their names to businesses be  
            provided through a link on the homepage of the Internet Web  
            site of the alumni association or in the alumni association's  
            privacy policy.

          2)Expresses legislative intent that UC, CSU, and the Hastings  
            College of the Law (HCL) report to the Legislature by July 1,  
            2014, regarding compliance with these provisions.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was substantially similar  
          to the version passed by the Senate.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

           COMMENTS  :  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, existing law  
          (California Information Practices Act of 1977 and the California  
          Financial Information Privacy Act) created ambiguity about the  
          authority of state agencies to enter into affinity agreements  








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          with financial institutions.  SB 569 (Torlakson), Chapter 498,  
          Statutes of 2005, 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 SB 569.

          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 college 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  
          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  








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          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.  

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)  
          319-3960 


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