BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 859
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Date of Hearing: June 20, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 859 (Padilla) - As Amended: May 31, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 35-3
SUBJECT : Vehicle: records: confidentiality
SUMMARY : Allows electric utilities to access home address
information held by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
strictly for the purpose of tracking electric vehicle charging
points. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the disclosure of residence addresses in DMV records to
an electrical corporation or a local publicly-owned electric
utility, if the corporation or utility, or its agent, requests
and uses the information only for the purposes of tracking
electric vehicle charging points.
2)Allows DMV to disclose to the electrical corporation or local
publicly-owned utility only the type of vehicle and address of
the electric vehicle owner.
3)Prohibits DMV from disclosing the name of the electric vehicle
owner.
4)Requires the electrical corporation or local publicly-owned
electric utility, within 15 days of receiving residence
address information from DMV, to provide a clear, express
disclosure to the electric vehicle owner that his or her
residence address information is required by law to be shared
with the corporation or utility.
5)Requires that the disclosure not contain marketing information
or a solicitation for the purchase of goods or services.
6)Allows confidential home address information of electric
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vehicle owners disclosed pursuant to these provisions to be
used only for the purpose of identifying where an electric
vehicle is registered and not for any other purpose, including
identifying the individual or individuals residing at the
address.
7)Prohibits an electrical corporation or local publicly-owned
utility from selling, sharing, or further disclosing,
including to any subsidiaries, residence address information
of electric vehicle owners obtained pursuant to these
provisions.
8)Prohibits residential addresses released to electrical
corporations or local publicly-owned utilities from being used
for direct marketing or solicitation for purchase of any
consumer product or service.
EXISTING LAW :
1)The California Constitution provides the right to privacy.
2)Provides that any residence address in DMV records is
confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person with the
exception of a court, law enforcement, or other government
agency, as specified.
3)Provides that residential addresses may be disclosed to a
vehicle manufacturer if the manufacturer or its agent, under
penalty of perjury, requests and uses the information only for
the purpose of safety, warranty, emission, or product recall
at no cost to the vehicle owner.
4)Provides that any residential addresses released by DMV may
not be used for direct marketing or solicitation for the
purchase of any consumer product or service.
5)Requires any person who has access to confidential or
restricted DMV information to establish procedures to protect
the confidentiality of those records.
6)Requires any person, or agent, who obtains confidential
information from DMV to take all steps necessary to ensure
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confidentiality and prevent the release of any information to
a third party.
7)Prohibits an agent from obtaining or using any confidential or
restricted records for any purpose other than for the reason
the information was requested.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to DMV, the costs associated with this
bill are minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS : Under this bill, electrical corporations or local
publicly-owned utilities would be able to obtain home address
information for electric vehicle owners from the DMV in order to
determine electric vehicle charge points. The sponsor indicates
that this information will help the electrical corporations or
local publicly-owned utilities anticipate and plan for increased
grid demand associated with home charging of plug-in electric
vehicles (PEVs). The sponsor contends that being able to plan
for and accommodate increased electricity demand will help to
avert potential grid overload that could result in localized
outages and rate fluctuations especially given that at least 1
million PEVs are anticipated to be in use in California in the
next ten years.
This bill safeguards PEV owners' privacy by ensuring that the
utilities do not use the information obtained from DMV for any
marketing purposes; that electric vehicle owners are notified
that their residence information is required by law to be shared
with electrical corporations or local publicly-owned utilities;
and that electrical corporations or local publicly-owned
utilities are precluded from selling, sharing, or further
disclosing residence information of electric vehicle owners.
Double Referred : This bill is also referred to the Assembly
Committee on Judiciary.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Electric Transportation Coalition (Sponsor)
California Municipal Utilities Association
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City of Los Angeles
Environmental Defense Fund
National Resources Defense Council
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
San Diego Gas and Electric Company
Sempra Utilities
Southern California Edison
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093