BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 602
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                     SB 602 (Yee) - As Amended:  August 15, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              JudiciaryVote:8-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes restrictions and procedures regarding the 
          disclosure of customers' personal information by book service 
          providers. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Stipulates that a book service provider-a commercial entity 
            whose primary purpose is providing the rental, purchase, 
            borrowing, browsing, or viewing or books-may not knowingly 
            disclose to a governmental agency the personal information of 
            a book service user, except under conditions as specified 
            separately for law enforcement and for non-law enforcement 
            entities or a person or private entity. Among these conditions 
            is the issuance of court orders with specified findings.

          2)Requires a book service provider to disclose the personal 
            information of a user to any person, private entity, or 
            government entity if the user has given consent to a specific 
            disclosure for a particular purpose.

          3)Requires any court issuing a search order or civil discovery 
            order requiring disclosure of a book user's personal 
            information to impose appropriate safeguards against the 
            unauthorized disclosure of personal information by the 
            provider pursuant to the order.

          4)Makes knowing disclosure of a user's personal information in 
            violation of the bills restrictions a civil penalty of up to 
            $500 per violation, which may be recovered in an action 
            brought by the user, plus a civil penalty of up to $500 per 
            violation, which may be assessed and recovered in an action 
            brought by the Attorney General or a local prosecutor.









                                                                  SB 602
                                                                  Page  2

          5)Requires book service providers, by March 1 annually, to make 
            available in an online searchable format or submit to the 
            state Office of Privacy Protection if they do not have a 
            website, a specified report regarding incidences of disclosure 
            of users' personal information for the prior calendar year.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor cost pressure to the courts from increased caseload. Any 
          additional court costs would likely be absorbed.

           


          COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . According to the author, as book reading increasingly 
          moves toward using electronic devices and online book services, 
          state law needs to codify the privacy and free speech safeguards 
          guaranteed in the state Constitution and provide clear 
          guidelines for government and third-party access to sensitive 
          reading records. Current reader protections in state law pertain 
          only to library records, not records concerning books browsed or 
          purchased from online or physical booksellers. SB 602, the 
          Reader Privacy Act of 2011 updates reader privacy laws by 
          mirroring the strong privacy and free speech standards in 
          California law to ensure that government and third parties 
          cannot compel disclosure of private reading records without 
          proper justification. This bill is co-sponsored by the American 
          Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081