BILL ANALYSIS AB 1222 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1222 (Bonnie Lowenthal) As Amended July 23, 2009 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(May 28, 2009) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 24, | | | | | | |2009) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 1222 Page 2 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 AB 1222 Page 3 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 FN: 0002192