BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2263
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PRIVACY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Ed Chau, Chair
AB 2263
(Baker) - As Amended April 11, 2016
SUBJECT: Protection of victims of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or stalking, and reproductive health care service
providers: address confidentiality
SUMMARY: Standardizes the confidentiality protections for Safe
at Home (SAH) program participants, regardless of whether their
participation is based on their status as victims of domestic
violence, stalking, or sexual assault, or on their status as a
patient, employee, or volunteer at a reproductive health care
clinic; and requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to provide SAH
enrollees with information about how to protect their privacy on
real property records. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that no person, business, or association shall
publicly post or display on the Internet the address of an SAH
program participant, as specified, who has made a written
demand of that person, business, or association to not
disclose the home address of the program participant.
2)Specifies that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly post the home address of a an SAH program
participant, as specified, or of the program participant's
residing spouse or child, on the Internet, knowing that person
is a program participant and intending to cause imminent great
AB 2263
Page 2
bodily harm or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm
to the program participant or his or her residing spouse or
child.
3)Requires the SOS to post on its website and provide new SAH
enrollees information about how to protect personal privacy on
real property records as follows:
a) A notice that the participant may request to use his or
her SOS SAH address on real property deeds, change of
ownership forms, and deeds of trust when purchasing or
selling a home;
b) A notice that the participant may wish to protect his or
her home address from disclosure in real property
transactions by creating a trust and placing his or her
real property into the trust;
c) A notice that the participant may wish to legally change
his or her name in order to protect his or her anonymity;
and
d) A list of contacts for entities, such as county bar
associations, legal aid societies, domestic violence
prevention organizations, or other state or local
nonprofits who can provide more information and legal
services to create a trust or accomplish a name change.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, under the California Public Records Act (CPRA),
AB 2263
Page 3
state and local agencies to make public records available for
inspection by the public, unless another provision of the CPRA
or another statute expressly exempts the records from the
disclosure requirement. (Government Code (GC) Section 6250 et
seq.)
2)Establishes the SAH address confidentiality program at the
SOS. This program allows state and local agencies to accept a
substitute address designated by the SOS in lieu of an actual
home address and requires the agency to request for public
records without disclosing the address of a victim of domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking, or elder or dependent
adult abuse. Permits any such adult victim, or parent or
guardian acting on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person,
to apply through a specified program to have an address
designated by the SOS as his or her substitute mailing
address. (GC 6205 et seq.)
3)Similarly, allows reproductive health care providers,
employees, volunteers, and patients to participate in the SAH
address confidentiality program, as specified. (GC 6215 et
seq.)
4)Requires the SOS to certify a successful applicant as a
program participant for four years following the date of
filing, unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated
before that date, except reproductive health care services
facilities volunteers shall be certified until six months from
the last date of volunteering with the facility. (GC 6206 (c)
and 6215.2 (e))
5)Specifies that, once certified, the SAH participant may
request that a state or local agency, when creating a public
record, use a substitute address designated by the SOS in lieu
of the person's residential or work address, except as
AB 2263
Page 4
specified. (GC 6206 and 6207)
6)Provides that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly and intentionally publicly post or publicly display
on the Internet the home address, home telephone number, or
image of an SAH program participant or other individuals
residing at the same home address with the intent to threaten
the participant or cause the participant, or co-resident,
harm, as specified. (GC 6208.1)
7)Prohibits the SOS from disclosing an SAH program participant's
name change or address, other than the designated address,
unless it is requested by, and disclosed to, law enforcement,
or directed by a court, or if the participant's certification
has been canceled. (GC 6206, 6206.4 and 6208)
8)Requires that any records or documents pertaining to an SAH
program participant shall be retained and held confidential
for a period of three years after termination of a
certification and then destroyed. (GC 6206.5 (e))
9)Permits the confidentiality program manager to terminate a
program participant's certification for specified reasons,
including if the program manager determines that the
information used in the application process was used as a
subterfuge to avoid detection of illegal activity or
apprehension by law enforcement. (GC 6206.7 (b))
10)Prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly
posting or displaying on the Internet the home address, home
telephone number, or image of any provider, employee,
volunteer, or patient of a reproductive health service
facility, with the intent to incite a third person to cause
imminent bodily harm to a person protected by this provision.
AB 2263
Page 5
Permits a person whose personal information is posted to bring
an action for injunctive relief of damages, as specified.
Provides that no person shall post or display on the Internet
any personal information about a person protected by this
provision if the person has requested that the information be
removed, as specified. (GC 6218)
11)Provides that no local or state agency shall post the home
address or telephone number of an elected or appointed
official on the Internet without that official's prior
consent. Makes it a crime for any person to knowingly post
the home address or phone number of an official on the
Internet knowing that the person is an elected or appointed
official and with the intent to cause imminent bodily harm.
Provides that a violation of this provision is a misdemeanor,
and that a violation that results in bodily injury to the
official or a family member is a felony. Provides that no
person shall post or display on the Internet the home address
or telephone number of an elected or appointed official if
that official has made a written demand that the information
be removed. (GC 6254.21)
12)Provides that any person who maliciously, and with the intent
to obstruct justice, or with the intent or threat to inflict
imminent physical harm in retaliation for the due
administration of laws, publishes, disseminates, or otherwise
discloses the residence address or telephone number of any
peace officer, public safety officer, employee of a police
department or sheriff's office, or the spouse or children of
such person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. If a violation of
this provision results in injury to the protected person or
his or her family, then the person who violates this provision
is guilty of a felony. (Penal Code Section 146e.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
AB 2263
Page 6
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill is intended to help protect
the privacy and personal safety of SAH program participants by
bringing uniformity to the confidentiality protections for
certain SAH participants, and by requiring the SOS to educate
participants about how they can protect their privacy on deeds
and other real property records. This measure is
author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author's office, "AB 2263
closes a loophole in the Safe At Home Program to protect
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, as
well as reproductive health care doctors, nurses, volunteers,
and patients. Specifically, AB 2263 would provide victims
enrolled in the California Safe at Home program with resources
to have their title record excluded from being publically
posted, just as elected officials and public safety officers
do. This bill would prohibit a person, business, or
association from posting the residential addresses or
telephone numbers of those enrolled in the California Safe at
Home Program if so requested by the program enrollee. This
bill will also provide notice to enrollees of their options to
prevent their home address from being publically
disseminated."
3)CPRA requests and the SAH program. The CPRA requires state
and local agencies to make public records available for
inspection and copying by members of the public, unless the
records are expressly exempted from disclosure by express
provisions of the PRA or some other statute. One such
exemption includes participants in the SAH program, which is
intended to keep the home addresses of program participants
AB 2263
Page 7
confidential. Though restricted to victims of domestic
violence when first established in 1998, the program has since
expanded to include victims of stalking and sexual assault;
patients, employees, and volunteers of reproductive health
centers; and victims of elder and dependent adult abuse. In
addition, existing law provides similar protections for
elected and appointed officials and law enforcement officers.
These programs protect participants by preventing their
abusers, or others who might wish to cause them harm, from
discovering the participant's home address.
The SAH program works by allowing program participants to use
a substitute, publicly disclosable address, in lieu of the
actual home address, whenever an address is required by a
public agency for an official purpose. SAH program
participants receive a designated address from the SOS -
typically a post office box - and the participant may then
demand that a state or local agency use this substitute
address as the participant's official address. Any
correspondence from the agency to the participant is sent to
the designated address, and the SOS forwards it to the
participant's actual and confidential address.
In addition, the SOS is also designated to receive legal
notices and service of process on the participant's behalf.
Agencies must accept the SOS address and use it when creating,
or disclosing, public records. The SAH program recognizes
that some agencies may require the actual home address for a
bona fide statutory or administrative purpose. In that case,
the agency may retain the home address in its records;
however, the agency may only use the home address for that
bona fide purpose and is prohibited from publicly
disseminating the home address of an SAH participant.
AB 2263
Page 8
To be eligible to become an SAH program participant, an
individual, living in California, must file an application
containing a sworn statement that the applicant has good
reason to believe that he or she, or his or her minor child,
has been a victim of domestic violence, stalking, sexual
assault, or elder or dependent adult abuse, or that he or she
is a patient, employee, or volunteer of a reproductive health
center, and that he or she fears for his or her safety or the
safety of a child. The applicant must also include a police
report or some other appropriate evidence indicating the
applicant's eligibility. More than 7,000 people have
participated in the SAH program since its inception in 1999.
4)What is the problem this bill seeks to solve? According to
the author, this bill was prompted by the experience of a
constituent who, despite being an SAH participant and a victim
of domestic violence, discovered that her home address was
nonetheless posted online and discovered by her abuser. The
constituent apparently learned from her county assessor's
office that the address may have been sold to data brokers who
purchase public records in bulk and then post addresses and
other personal information on the Internet. An earlier
iteration of the bill would have prohibited a county assessor
from selling or otherwise disclosing the home addresses to the
general public. However, after extensive discussions with
various stakeholders, including the county recorders and
county assessors, the author determined that the problem was
more complicated than initially assumed and that the bill as
introduced might not have addressed the underlying problem.
AB 2263
Page 9
5)Improved privacy protections for SAH participants . In its
current form, this bill makes modest improvements in how the
existing SAH framework treats people who are enrolled in the
program because of their status as victims of domestic
violence, stalking, and sexual abuse, and people who are
enrolled in the program because of their status as patients,
employees, or volunteers at a reproductive health care center.
Both groups of participants enjoy the restrictions on
disclosures by public agencies described above, but victims of
domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault have one
additional protection under current SAH law: a private person,
business, or association is prohibited from posting or
displaying on the Internet the home address of an SAH
participant if the SAH participant has demanded that the
person, business, or association remove the home address. In
addition, existing law prohibits a person, business, or
association from posting the SAH participant's home address
online with the knowledge and intent to cause that person
imminent harm.
Although similar protections are afforded to patients and
reproductive health care providers under other statutes, the
author believes, based on conversations with Legislative
Counsel, that situating these protections within the existing
SAH statutory framework will make clearer a legislative intent
to provide both groups with the same privacy protections.
6)New amendments require the SOS to educate SAH enrollees about
privacy options . The author recently added new provisions to
the bill that require the SOS to provide to SAH enrollees
information about how to protect their privacy on real
AB 2263
Page 10
property records. The following information must be given to
each new enrollee and posted on the SOS website:
a) A notice that the participant has a right to use his or
her SOS SAH program address on real property deeds, change
of ownership forms, and deeds of trust when purchasing or
selling a home;
b) A notice that the participant may wish to protect his or
her home address from disclosure in real property
transactions by creating a revocable living trust and
placing his or her real property into the trust;
c) A notice that the participant may wish to legally change
his or her name in order to protect his or her anonymity;
and
d) Resource information about how to get more information
and legal services on how to create a trust to hold real
property or accomplish a name change, including a county
bar associations, legal aid societies, domestic violence
prevention organizations, or other state or local
nonprofits who may able to assist participants.
As the bill moves forward, the author has indicated she may
add more provisions to further strengthen the bill but has
expressed a commitment to working with all stakeholders to
devise workable solutions that carefully balance the need for
privacy against the need for public access to government
records, in particular the real property recording system.
1)Arguments in support . Planned Parenthood Affiliates of
California (PPAC) states in support that "the bill would close
AB 2263
Page 11
a loophole in the Safe At Home Program and would provide
notice to a participant that he or she has the right to use
his or her Safe at Home program address on real property
deeds, change of ownership forms, and deeds of trust when
purchasing or selling a home."
2)Double-referral . This bill was double-referred to the
Assembly Judiciary Committee where it was heard on April 5,
2016 and passed 10-0.
3)Prior Legislation . AB 849 (Garcia), Chapter 676, Statutes of
2013, extended SAH protection to victims of elder and
dependent adult abuse.
SB 1082 (Corbett), Chapter 270, Statutes of 2012, required
prospective participants of the SAH program to be domiciled in
California in order to apply to the program, authorizes a
minor program participant, who reaches 18 years of age during
his or her enrollment, to renew as an adult, and modifies the
SOS authority to terminate a program participant's
certification.
SB 636 (Corbett), Chapter 200, Statutes of 2011, enhanced the
protections for participants in the SAH program, including
prohibiting publicly posting or displaying on the Internet, or
soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet, specified
personal information of the program participant.
SB 1233 (Oropeza), Chapter 326, Statutes of 2010, removed the
sunset date for the SAH program and required that the name
change records for the program participants be permanently
retained.
AB 2304 (Plescia), Chapter 586, Statutes of 2008, required
courts to keep confidential the current legal name of the
AB 2263
Page 12
petitioner and prohibited the court from publishing that name
by any means or in any public forum when the petition for name
change is by a participant in the address confidentiality
program.
SB 1062 (Bowen), Chapter 639, Statutes of 2006, extended the
protections of the SAH program to victims of sexual assault.
AB 797 (Shelley), Chapter 380, Statutes of 2002, extended the
protections of the SAH program to reproductive health care
service providers and their employees, volunteers, and
patients.
SB 1318 (Alpert), Chapter 562, Statutes of 2000, extended the
protections of the SAH program to victims of stalking, and
revised procedures relating to terminating the certification
of participants.
SB 489 (Alpert) Chapter 1005, Statutes of 1998, established
the SAH program for victims of domestic violence and allowed
for voter record and marriage application confidentiality as
well as address confidentiality.
REGISTERED
SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
AB 2263
Page 13
California State Sheriffs' Association
Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San
Bernardino Counties
Crime Victims United of California
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Santa Barbara, Ventura, & San
Luis Obispo Counties
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Advocates Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Planned Parenthood Northern California Action Fund
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
AB 2263
Page 14
Analysis Prepared by:Jennie Bretschneider / P. & C.P. / (916)
319-2200