BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 561|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 561
Author: Corbett (D)
Amended: 8/16/12
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/21/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Internet crimes: data collection
SOURCE : Alameda County District Attorney
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
DIGEST : This is a new bill. As this bill left the
Senate, it dealt with common interest developments. Those
provisions were deleted in the Assembly. As amended, this
bill now, until January 1, 2015, requires the Alameda
County District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department to collect statistical data on
arrests or prosecutions involving private information, as
defined, gathered from the Internet that was used in
furtherance of a crime within each participating entity's
jurisdiction. This bill makes legislative findings and
declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for
the Alameda County District Attorney and the Los Angeles
County Sheriff's Department.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1. Requires the 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.
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.
3. Requires DOJ to establish and maintain a data base of
individuals who have been victims of identity theft.
Specifies that DOJ shall provide a victim of identity
theft or his/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.
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.
This bill 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:
1. Requires 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
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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 the Alameda County District Attorney's Office
and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to
electronically report the statistical data collected
pursuant to subdivision (a) to the DOJ in portable
document format, also known as PDF, in two installments.
The first installment shall be reported to the
department on or before July 1, 2013, and shall be
comprised of all information collected prior to that
date. The second installment shall be reported to the
department on or before January 1, 2014, and shall be
comprised of all information collected on and after July
1, 2013. DOJ shall publish the information reported
pursuant to this section in a timely manner on DOJ's
Internet Web site.
4. Provides that the provisions of the bill sunset as
January 1, 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/21/12)
Alameda County District Attorney (co-source)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (co-source)
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Crime Victims United
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author,
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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
assess the extent of the problem and what needs to be done
about it."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 08/21/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Swanson, Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Solorio, Valadao
RJG:m 8/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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