BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 561
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Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 561 (Corbett) - As Amended: June 6, 2012
As Proposed to be Amended
SENATE VOTE : Not Relevant
SUBJECT : Internet Crimes Involving Private Information: Data
Collection
KEY ISSUE : Should Alameda and Los Angeles Counties be
authorized to conduct a pilot program to collect and post
statistical data related to crimes that involve the gathering of
private information from the Internet?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This non-controversial bill creates a pilot program in Alameda
and Los Angeles counties to collect statistical data on crimes
that involve the gathering of private information from the
Internet. According to the author, collecting and publishing
this data will raise awareness about the extent of identity
theft and cyber-stalking and help the state to develop law
enforcement techniques and establish priorities accordingly.
The bill will also require the participating counties to post
this statistical information on their Websites so that the
information is available to the public. This bill is
co-sponsored by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office
and the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department. There is no
known opposition to the bill. As reflected in the analysis, the
author will take definitional and clarifying amendments in this
Committee.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Alameda County District Attorney's
Office and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to collect
and post statistical data relating to crimes involving or
furthered by the gathering of private information from the
Internet. Specifically, this bill :
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1)Authorizes the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and
the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to collect
statistical data on arrests and prosecutions involving private
information gathered from the Internet that was used in
furtherance of a crime committed within its respective
jurisdictions. Specifies that the information may be gathered
in the manner that the entity deems appropriate and may focus
on crimes in which the victim was a minor.
2)Defines "private information" to mean any information that
identifies or describes an individual, including, but not
limited to, his or her name, social security number, account
numbers, passwords, personal identification numbers, physical
description, physical location, home address, home telephone
number, education, financial matters, and medical or
employment history. It includes statements made by, or
attributed to, the individual.
3)Requires an entity that collects statistical data as described
above to publish that statistical information or post it on
the entity's Internet Web site in two installments, as
specified, on or before July 1, 2013, and on or before January
1, 2014.
4)Provides that the above shall sunset as January 1, 2015,
unless that date is deleted or extended by a later enacted
statute.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the California Department of Justice (DOJ) to prepare
and distribute, as specified, an annual report containing the
criminal statistics of the preceding calendar year and to
present reports on special aspects of criminal statistics.
(Penal Code Section 13010.)
2)Provides that any person who willfully obtains personal
identifying information, as defined, of another person, and
uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including to
obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, or
medical information in the name of the other person without
the consent of that person, is guilty of a public offense, and
upon conviction therefor, shall be punished by fines or
incarceration, or both, as specified. (Penal Code Section
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530.5.)
3)Requires the DOJ to establish and maintain a data base of
individuals who have been victims of identity theft.
Specifies that the DOJ shall provide a victim of identity
theft or his or her authorized representative access to the
data base in order to establish that the individual has been a
victim of identity theft. Limits access to the data base to
criminal justice agencies, victims of identity theft, and
individuals and agencies authorized by the victims. (Penal
Code Section 530.7.)
4)Specifies that many crimes, including false impersonation,
harassment, and stalking, may be committed by electronic
means, including by means of a computer or Internet. (e.g.
Penal Code Sections 528.5, 649.9, and 653m.)
COMMENTS : It is well-known that people are increasingly willing
to divulge private information on the Internet, and that other
people may try to use that private information for nefarious
ends. Nonetheless, the author claims, law enforcement and
policy-makers have "only limited and sporadic information" on
the exact extent and nature of Internet-related crimes. This
bill seeks to remedy this situation by authorizing the
collection of empirical data on the extent of such crimes so
that law enforcement and policy-makers may better understand
these trends and act accordingly. This bill is similar in
intent to the author's SB 1389, which would have required the
Attorney General to direct local law enforcement agencies
throughout the state to report to the Department of Justice
information relative to criminal activity that is generated by
the misuse of private information gathered from the Internet.
That bill, however, was held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee. The bill presently under consideration by this
Committee is more modest; it creates a pilot program authorizing
two counties to collect relevant statistical data and, if they
do, the bill requires them to post that statistical data on
their Internet Websites so that aggregate information will also
be available to the public. The two counties authorized to
collect and publish the data are, not coincidentally, the bill's
co-sponsors.
Need for Legislation: Given that the counties affected by this
legislation are also the sponsors of the legislation, this
legislation is arguably unnecessary. If those counties want to
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collect and post such data, there is nothing in existing law
that prevents them from doing so. However, the author's office
has informed the Committee of its belief that setting statutory
deadlines for publishing and posting the statistical data will
help the author to coordinate with the Senate Office of Research
and other groups to analyze and use the information.
Author's Definitional and Clarifying Amendments : As currently
in print, this bill does not define "private information" and
does not adequately specify that the "information" to be
published or posted in the Internet Website shall consist only
of the aggregate statistical data that has been collected; that
is, at the risk of stating the obvious, the counties should not
republish the private information that was used in the crime.
Therefore, the author will take the following amendments in this
Committee:
- On page 2, line 12, before "information," in both
instances where the word occurs, insert:
statistical
- In Section 1 of the bill insert a new subdivision that
reads:
For purpose of this section "private information" means any
information that identifies or describes an individual,
including, but not limited to, his or her name, social security
number, account numbers, passwords, personal identification
numbers, physical description, physical location, home address,
home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical
or employment history. It includes statements made by, or
attributed to, the individual.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author and co-sponsors,
widespread use of the Internet "has changed how people interact
with one another and how they share private information. . .
Evidence abounds that criminals use the Internet to commit a
host of illegal activities, from stealing personal identifying
information to starting and developing inappropriate
relationships with minors that lead to sex crimes. Law
enforcement and policymakers, however, have only limited and
sporadic information on this growing trend of Internet-generated
crimes." The author believes that "without solid, standard data
on crimes involving the Internet, it is impossible to accurately
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assess the extent of the problem and what needs to be done about
it."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Alameda County District Attorney's Office (co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (co-sponsor)
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Crime Victims United of California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334