BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2853
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2853 (Gatto)
As Amended June 16, 2016
Majority vote
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 12, 2016) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 15, |
| | | | | |2016) |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY: Authorizes a public agency that posts a public record
on its Internet Web site to refer a person that requests to
inspect or obtain the record to the agency's Web site, as
specified, and makes required findings. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Allows a public agency to comply with certain disclosure
requirements under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by
posting any public record on its Internet Web site and, in
response to a request for a public record posted on the
Internet Web site, directing a member of the public to the
location on the Internet Web site where the public record is
posted. However, if after the agency directs a member of the
public to the Internet Web site, the member of the public
requests the public record asks for a copy of any such public
record, due to an inability to access or reproduce the public
records from the Internet Web site, the agency shall promptly
AB 2853
Page 2
provide a copy of the public record, as specified.
2)Makes findings, as required by the California Constitution,
that this change to the CPRA furthers the purpose of the CPRA
by making public record disclosures more quickly and cost
effectively.
The Senate amendments:
1)Clarify that they agency shall "direct" a requester to the
appropriate location on the Web site where records are
located, rather than merely "refer" the requester to the Web
site.
2)Replace a requirement that the agency prepare a copy of the
requested record "within 10 days" with a requirement that the
agency "promptly provide" a copy of the public record.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that all public records are open to public
inspection, unless expressly exempted by a provision of the
Public Records Act or another statute. (Government Code
Section (GOV) 6250 et seq.)
2)Provides that public records are open to inspection at all
times during the office hours of the state or local agency and
every person has a right to inspect any public record, except
as provided. Requires, generally, that the agency make the
records promptly available to any person upon payment of fees
covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if
AB 2853
Page 3
applicable. (GOV 6253 (a)-(b).)
3)Requires an agency, except under unusual circumstances, as
defined, to respond to a public record request within ten days
from receipt of the request, determine whether the request
seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession
of the agency, and to promptly notify the person making the
request of the agency's determination and the reasons
justifying that determination. If the agency withholds
requested records, in whole or in part, it must justify this
withholding by demonstrating that the record in question is
subject to an express exemption or that the public interest in
confidentiality outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
(GOV 6253 (c); Section 6255.)
4)Permits, except as otherwise prohibited by law, a state or
local agency to adopt requirements for itself that allow for
faster, more efficient, or greater access to records than
prescribed by the minimum standards set forth in the CPRA.
(GOV 6253 (d).)
5)Requires an agency to provide reasonable assistance to the
person making the request by helping to identify records and
information relevant to the request and suggesting ways to
overcome any practical basis for denying access. (GOV
6253.1.)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: This bill responds to what the author sees as an
abuse of the CPRA by private companies. These companies make
public record requests that require public agencies - especially
educational agencies and local school districts - to retrieve,
assemble, and provide that the private companies then sell to
AB 2853
Page 4
data brokers for targeted marketing purposes or to market their
own products. For example, the author has submitted to the
Committee a copy of a public record request submitted by a
private, for-profit company, Schoolie, Inc., to several school
districts and local educational agencies throughout the state.
These requests seek detailed information, going back several
years, on student demographic and academic achievement, college
preparation and placement numbers, the type and quantity of
technology used throughout the school district, extracurricular
activities offered and levels of participation, special
education offerings and enrollments, and many other pieces of
information. According to the company's Web site, it appears
that Schoolie, Inc. uses this information to rank and evaluate
schools and then sells those rankings and evaluations to
interested parents. While this is certainly a legitimate
business activity, the author maintains that these private,
for-profit businesses are exploiting the CPRA, effectively using
school district personnel and resources to find, retrieve, and
assemble information to profit the company. Because this
information is often available in other places - online and
sometimes even on the school district's Web site - the private
company could, and should, the author believes, do this work
itself instead of having school districts and other public
agencies do it for them. Other companies, according to the
author and supporters, do not simply use this information to
market their own products, but are engaged in "corporate data
mining," that is, selling information culled from the records to
any number of data brokers who in turn use it to market an array
of products to schools, faculty, parents, and even students.
This bill would authorize a public agency that posts any of its
public records on its Internet Web site to direct a person
requesting such records to the location on Web site where the
requested record is located. According to the author, it would
be much more efficient and cost-effective - both for the agency
and most requesters - to post disclosable records online where a
member of the public could access and download the documents
without making a formal request and without requiring the agency
to run through the required responses to a request. This bill
would simply authorize a public agency to direct a requested to
those online records, rather than physically retrieving the
AB 2853
Page 5
records and making disclosure determinations for each new
request. This solution would also be easier for most
requesters, though perhaps not satisfactory to private
businesses seeking someone to assemble marketable information.
Because not all members of the public have access to the
Internet - or, if they do, may not be able to print or otherwise
reproduce the requested records - this bill would require an
agency to provide copies of records if the requester does not
have access to the Internet records or cannot reproduce them.
Of course, most people today have a computer or other device
that can access to the Internet, or, if they do not, Internet
access and printing capacity is generally available in public
libraries. Nonetheless, there may be any number of reasons why
a person could not access and reproduce records from an agency's
Web site. This bill, as recently amended, acknowledges this
possibility. After posting records on its Internet Web site and
directing the requester to that site, the agency will still be
obligated under this bill to provide copies of the records to
any person who cannot access or reproduce the records on the
agency's Internet Web site.
Analysis Prepared by:
Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0003828