BILL NUMBER: AB 83 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
JANUARY 6, 2015
An act to amend Section 1798.3 1798.81.5
of the Civil Code, relating to personal data.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 83, as amended, Gatto. Information Practices Act of 1977.
Existing law requires a person or business that owns, licenses, or
maintains personal information about a California resident to
implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices
appropriate to the nature of the information, to protect the personal
information from unauthorized access, destruction, use,
modification, or disclosure.
This bill would define "reasonable security procedures and
practices" for purposes of these provisions as requiring, at a
minimum, the encryption of private data to the degree that any
reasonably prudent business would provide, as specified. The bill
would define "private data" to include specified types personally
identifying medical, financial, and geophysical information. The bill
would also authorize the Department of Justice to specify security
procedures, practices, and technical standards that it deems to be
presumptively reasonable within a particular industry.
Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, defines
specified terms for its purposes.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1798.81.5 of the
Civil Code is amended to read:
1798.81.5. (a) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure
that personal information about California residents is protected. To
that end, the purpose of this section is to encourage businesses
that own, license, or maintain personal information about
Californians to provide reasonable security for that information.
(2) For the purpose of this section, the terms "own" and "license"
include personal information that a business retains as part of the
business' internal customer account or for the purpose of using that
information in transactions with the person to whom the information
relates. The term "maintain" includes personal information that a
business maintains but does not own or license.
(b) A business that owns, licenses, or maintains personal
information about a California resident shall implement and maintain
reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the
nature of the information, to protect the personal information from
unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.
(c) A business that discloses personal information about a
California resident pursuant to a contract with a nonaffiliated third
party that is not subject to subdivision (b) shall require by
contract that the third party implement and maintain reasonable
security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the
information, to protect the personal information from unauthorized
access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.
(d) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Personal information" means an individual's first name or
first initial and his or her last name in combination with any one or
more of the following data elements, when either the name or the
data elements are not encrypted or redacted:
(A) Social security number.
(B) Driver's license number or California identification card
number.
(C) Account number, credit or debit card number, in combination
with any required security code, access code, or password that would
permit access to an individual's financial account.
(D) Medical information.
(2) "Medical information" means any individually identifiable
information, in electronic or physical form, regarding the individual'
s medical history or medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care
professional.
(3) "Personal information" does not include publicly available
information that is lawfully made available to the general public
from federal, state, or local government records.
(4) "Private data" means any of the following information:
(A) Medical information.
(B) Personally identifiable financial information, as that term is
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 4052 of the Financial Code.
(C) Geophysical location information.
(D) The combination of an individual's first name or first initial
and his or her last name, with any of the following:
(i) Mother's maiden name.
(ii) Social Security Number.
(iii) Date of birth.
(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to any of the
following:
(1) A provider of health care, health care service plan, or
contractor regulated by the Confidentiality of Medical Information
Act (Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division 1).
(2) A financial institution as defined in Section 4052 of the
Financial Code and subject to the California Financial Information
Privacy Act (Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 4050) of the
Financial Code).
(3) A covered entity governed by the medical privacy and security
rules issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services,
Parts 160 and 164 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
established pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and
Availability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
(4) An entity that obtains information under an agreement pursuant
to Article 3 (commencing with Section 1800) of Chapter 1 of Division
2 of the Vehicle Code and is subject to the confidentiality
requirements of the Vehicle Code.
(5) A business that is regulated by state or federal law providing
greater protection to personal information than that provided by
this section in regard to the subjects addressed by this section.
Compliance with that state or federal law shall be deemed compliance
with this section with regard to those subjects. This paragraph does
not relieve a business from a duty to comply with any other
requirements of other state and federal law regarding the protection
and privacy of personal information.
(f) For purposes of this section, "reasonable security procedures
and practices" as they pertain to the storage and transmission of
private data shall require, at a minimum, the encryption of that
information to the degree that any reasonably prudent business would
provide, taking into account factors, including, but not limited to,
the business' size, available technology, publically available threat
information, generally accepted standards, and the customs and
practices of the specific industry within which the business
operates, to the extent commercially reasonable.
(g) The Department of Justice may, at its discretion, specify
security procedures and practices, including related technical
standards, that it deems to be presumptively reasonable within a
particular industry.
SECTION 1. Section 1798.3 of the Civil Code is
amended to read:
1798.3. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Personal information" means any information that is
maintained by an agency that identifies or describes an individual,
including, but not limited to, his or her name, social security
number, physical description, home address, home telephone number,
education, financial matters, and medical or employment history. It
includes statements made by, or attributed to, the individual.
(b) "Agency" means a state office, officer, department, division,
bureau, board, commission, or other state agency, except that agency
shall not include:
(1) The California Legislature.
(2) An agency established under Article VI of the California
Constitution.
(3) The State Compensation Insurance Fund, except as to any
records which contain personal information about the employees of the
State Compensation Insurance Fund.
(4) A local agency, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 6252
of the Government Code.
(c) "Disclose" means to disclose, release, transfer, disseminate,
or otherwise communicate all or any part of any record orally, in
writing, or by electronic or any other means to any person or entity.
(d) "Individual" means a natural person.
(e) "Maintain" includes maintain, acquire, use, or disclose.
(f) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, partnership,
limited liability company, firm, or association.
(g) "Record" means any file or grouping of information about an
individual that is maintained by an agency by reference to an
identifying particular such as the individual's name, photograph,
finger or voice print, or a number or symbol assigned to the
individual.
(h) "System of records" means one or more records, which pertain
to one or more individuals, which is maintained by any agency, from
which information is retrieved by the name of an individual or by
some identifying number, symbol or other identifying particular
assigned to the individual.
(i) "Governmental entity" except as used in Section 1798.26, means
any branch of the federal government or of the local government.
(j) "Commercial purpose" means any purpose which has financial
gain as a major objective. It does not include the gathering or
dissemination of newsworthy facts by a publisher or broadcaster.
(k) "Regulatory agency" means the Department of Business
Oversight, the Department of Insurance, the Bureau of Real Estate,
and agencies of the United States or of any other state responsible
for regulating financial institutions.