BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1407
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Date of Hearing: May 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1407 (Atkins) - As Amended May 21, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill, effective July 1, 2016, allows a court in a domestic
violence proceeding, to direct a wireless telephone service
provider (wireless provider) to transfer wireless phone numbers
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and devices. Specifically, this bill:
1)Allows a court, beginning July 1, 2016, in any Domestic
Violence Prevention Act proceeding, after notice and a
hearing, to issue an order directing a wireless telephone
service provider to transfer billing responsibility and rights
to a wireless phone number(s) to a requesting party, if the
requesting party is not the accountholder. Requires that the
order be made to the wireless provider, served as specified,
and contain specified information.
2)Requires the wireless provider, when it cannot operationally
or technically effectuate the order, to notify the requesting
party within 72 hours.
3)Provides that a wireless provider, as part of the transfer of
billing responsibility, is not precluded from applying to the
requesting party any routine and customary requirements for
account establishment, including but not limited to
identification, financial information and customer
preferences.
4)Provides that no cause of action will lie against any wireless
provider for actions taken in accordance with a court order
issued pursuant to #1), above.
5)Requires the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2016, to develop any
necessary forms or rules.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor and absorbable costs to the Judicial Council to develop
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forms or rules.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. Cell phones provide critical access to family,
friends, and support services. Often one person is the
accountholder for all phones in the household, but if that
accountholder is also a batterer, he or she can use that
status to control the victim's cell phone, monitor calls and
track the victim's whereabouts. This bill seeks to better
support victims of domestic violence by allowing a court to
direct the wireless service provider to give them control over
their own phones and their children's phones.
The author states, "Current law provides no mechanism for
victims of domestic violence . . . to break a wireless
telephone shared family plan contract when the abuser . . . is
the primary accountholder. Allowing these individuals to
retain use of an existing wireless telephone number and access
to their contacts and other information stored within the
phone is important to the individual's safety and emotional
support."
2)Background. Like all phones, cell phones, allow the user to
call family and friends and, if necessary, make emergency
calls. Cell phones, particularly smart phones, also store the
user's address books, often without any backup, and they
enable texting, and if they are smart phones, they allow email
communication and full Internet access. A cell phone's GPS
also lets the user locate nearby services.
A phone's accountholder may be able to track with whom a user
is communicating and can relatively easily track the location
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of the user in real time through the phone's GPS. While there
are multiple ways to physically and electronically monitor a
person's location, being the legal owner of a phone allows for
greater possible access and potential abuse.
Transferring the phone to the victim, if they are not the
accountholder, will better protect him or her from electronic
monitoring, and will allow continued access to their support
network and emergency services.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081