BILL NUMBER: AB 2667 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 27, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to add Sections 1802.22, 1802.23, 1802.24,
1802.25, 1803.12, and 1803.13 to amend Section
1812.622 of, and to add Section 1812.650 to, the Civil Code,
relating to electronic devices.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2667, as amended, Bloom. Retail installment contracts:
Rental-purchase agreements: electronic devices:
monitoring technology.
Existing law, the Unruh Act, Karnette
Rental-Purchase Act, provides for the regulation of
retail installment contracts, rental-purchase
agreements, as defined. Existing law requires retail
installment contracts rental- purchase
agreements to contain specified notices, including, among other
things, information on costs and terms of repayment
payment . Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to
willfully violate the provisions regulating retail
installment contracts. rental-purchase agreements.
This bill would add to these provisions regulating retail
contracts rental-purchase agreements provisions
requiring a retail seller lessor to
provide clear and prominent notice to a buyer
consumer and obtain express consent from the buyer
consumer at the time of sale of
the lessor and the consumer enter into a
rental-purchase agreement for an electronic device if that
device has monitoring technology or geophysical
location tracking technology installed and would prohibit a
seller lessor from installing the technology
without providing clear and prominent notice and obtaining express
consent from the buyer. consumer. The
bill would prohibit a seller lessor
from using a monitoring technology or geophysical
location tracking technology on an electronic device for any purpose
other than to prevent fraud. The bill would prohibit a lessor
from using monitoring technology on an electronic device.
Because a willful violation of these provisions would be a crime,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1802.22 is added to the
Civil Code, to read:
1802.22. "Electronic device" means a desktop or laptop computer,
handheld device, tablet, smart phone, or other electronic product or
device that has a platform on which to download, install, or run any
software program, code, script, or other content.
SEC. 2. Section 1802.23 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1802.23. "Clear and prominent notice" means notice presented in
an understandable language and syntax, in the predominantly used
language for that communication, and that:
(a) In textual communications, the required disclosures are of a
type, size, and location sufficiently noticeable for an ordinary
consumer to read and comprehend in print that contrasts highly with
the background on which they appear.
(b) In communications disseminated orally or through audible
means, the required disclosures are delivered in a volume and cadence
sufficient for an ordinary consumer to hear and comprehend.
(c) In communications disseminated through video means, the
required disclosures are in writing in a form consistent with
subdivision (a) of this definition and appear on the screen for a
duration sufficient for an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend
them, and in the same language as the predominantly used language for
that communication.
(d) In communications made through interactive media, including
the Internet, online services, and software, the required disclosures
are unavoidable and presented in a form consistent with subdivision
(a), in addition to any audio or video presentation.
SEC. 3. Section 1802.24 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1802.24. "Geophysical location tracking technology" means
hardware, software, or an application that collects and reports data
or information that identifies the precise geophysical location of an
item, including, technologies that report the GPS coordinates of a
computer or other item, the WiFi signals available to or actually
used by a computer to access the Internet, the telecommunication
towers or connections available to or actually used by a computer,
the processing of any reported data or information through
geolocation lookup services, or any information derived from any
combination of the foregoing.
SEC. 4. Section 1802.25 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1802.25. "Monitoring technology" means any hardware, software, or
application utilized in conjunction with a computer that can cause
the computer to capture, monitor, record, or report information about
user activities by recording keystrokes, clicks, or other
user-generated actions, capturing screenshots of the information
displayed on a computer monitor or screen, or activating the camera
or microphone function of a computer to take photographs or record
audio or visual content through the computer's Internet Webcam or
microphone.
SEC. 5. Section 1803.12 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1803.12. It shall be unlawful for a seller to fail to provide
clear and prominent notice to a buyer and obtain express consent from
the buyer at the time of sale of an electronic device if that device
has monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking
technology installed or to install monitoring technology or
geophysical location tracking technology on an electronic device
without first providing clear and prominent notice to the buyer and
obtaining express consent.
SEC. 6. Section 1803.13 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
1803.13. It shall be unlawful for a seller to use monitoring
technology or geophysical location tracking technology on an
electronic device for any purpose other than the prevention of fraud.
SECTION 1. Section 1812.622 of the
Civil Code is amended to read:
1812.622. As used in this title:
(a) "Advertisement" means a commercial message in any medium that
directly or indirectly solicits or promotes one or more specific
rental-purchase transactions, excluding instore merchandising aids.
This definition does not limit or alter the application of other
laws, including Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2
and Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Part 3, of Division
7 of the Business and Professions Code, to rental-purchase
transactions.
(b) "Consumer" means a natural person or persons who rent or lease
personal property from a lessor pursuant to a rental-purchase
agreement or to whom a lessor offers personal property for use
pursuant to a rental-purchase agreement.
(c) "Lessor" means any person or entity that provides or offers to
provide personal property for use by consumers pursuant to a
rental-purchase agreement.
(d) "Rental-purchase agreement," except as otherwise provided in
this subdivision, means an agreement between a lessor and a consumer
pursuant to which the lessor rents or leases, for valuable
consideration, personal property for use by a consumer for personal,
family, or household purposes for an initial term not exceeding four
months that may be renewed or otherwise extended, if under the terms
of the agreement the consumer acquires an option or other legally
enforceable right to become owner of the property. A rental-purchase
agreement is a lease subject to Title 1.5 (commencing with Section
1750) and Title 1.7 (commencing with Section 1790).
"Rental-purchase agreement" shall not be construed to be, nor be
governed by, and shall not apply to, any of the following:
(1) A retail installment sale, as defined in Section 1802.5.
(2) A retail installment contract, as defined in Section 1802.6.
(3) A retail installment account, as defined in Section 1802.7.
(4) A lease or agreement that constitutes a security interest, as
defined in Section 1201 of the Commercial Code.
(5) A consumer credit contract, as defined in Section 1799.90.
(e) "Cash price" means the price of the personal property
described in the rental-purchase agreement that the consumer may pay
in cash to the lessor at the inception of the rental-purchase
agreement to acquire ownership of that personal property.
(f) "Cost of rental" means the difference between the total of all
periodic payments necessary to acquire ownership under the
rental-purchase agreement and the cash price of the rental property
that is subject to the rental-purchase agreement.
(g) "Fee" means any payment, charge, fee, cost, or expense,
however denominated, other than a rental payment.
(h) "Appliance" means and includes any refrigerator, freezer,
range including any cooktop or oven, microwave oven, washer, dryer,
dishwasher, or room air conditioner or air purifier.
(i) "Electronic set" means and includes any television, radio,
camera, video game, or any type of device for the recording, storage,
copying, printing, transmission, display, or playback of any sound
or image, but does not include any item that is part of a computer
system.
(j) "Computer system" means a computer processor and a video
monitor, printer, and peripheral items primarily designed for use
with a computer. Audio and video devices, which are commonly used for
entertainment and into which data may be downloaded from a computer,
are not part of a computer system.
(k) "Lessor's cost" means the documented actual cost, including
actual freight charges, of the rental property to the lessor from a
wholesaler, distributor, supplier, or manufacturer and net of any
discounts, rebates, and incentives.
( l ) "Total of payments" means the total amount of
periodic payments necessary to acquire ownership of the property that
is the subject of the rental-purchase agreement if the consumer
makes all regularly scheduled payments.
(m) "Electronic device" means a desktop or laptop computer,
handheld device, tablet, smart phone, or other electronic product or
device that has a platform on which to download, install, or run any
software program, code, script, or other content.
(n) "Clear and prominent notice" means notice presented in an
understandable language and syntax, in the predominantly used
language for that communication, and that:
(1) In textual communications, the required disclosures are of a
type, size, and location sufficiently noticeable for an ordinary
consumer to read and comprehend in print that contrasts highly with
the background on which they appear.
(2) In communications disseminated orally or through audible
means, the required disclosures are delivered in a volume and cadence
sufficient for an ordinary consumer to hear and comprehend.
(3) In communications disseminated through video means, the
required disclosures are in writing in a form consistent with
paragraph (1) and appear on the screen for a duration sufficient for
an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend them, and in the same
language as the predominantly used language for that communication.
(4) In communications made through interactive media, including
the Internet, online services, and software, the required disclosures
are unavoidable and presented in a form consistent with paragraph
(1), in addition to any audio or video presentation.
(o) "Geophysical location tracking technology" means hardware,
software, or an application that collects and reports data or
information that identifies the precise geophysical location of an
item, including, technologies that report the GPS coordinates of a
computer or other item, the WiFi signals available to or actually
used by a computer to access the Internet, the telecommunication
towers or connections available to or actually used by a computer,
the processing of any reported data or information through
geolocation lookup services, or any information derived from any
combination of the foregoing.
(p) "Monitoring technology" means any hardware, software, or
application utilized in conjunction with a computer that can cause
the computer to capture, monitor, record, or report information about
user activities by recording keystrokes, clicks, or other
user-generated actions, capturing screenshots of the information
displayed on a computer monitor or screen, or activating the camera
or microphone function of a computer to take photographs or record
audio or visual content through the computer's Internet Webcam or
microphone.
SEC. 2. Section 1812.650 is added to the
Civil Code , to read:
1812.650. (a) A lessor shall provide clear and prominent notice
to a consumer and obtain express consent from the consumer at the
time the lessor and the consumer enter into a rental-purchase
agreement for an electronic device if that device has geophysical
location tracking technology installed. A lessor shall not install
geophysical location tracking technology on an electronic device
without first providing clear and prominent notice to the consumer
and obtaining express consent.
(b) A lessor shall not use geophysical location tracking
technology on an electronic device for any purpose other than the
prevention of fraud.
(c) A lessor shall not use monitoring technology on an electronic
device for any purpose.
SEC. 7. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this
act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or
infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the
definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
B of the California Constitution.