BILL NUMBER: AB 771 CHAPTERED 09/27/99 CHAPTER 489 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 8, 1999 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Briggs (Principal coauthor: Senator Peace) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aanestad, Battin, Campbell, Dickerson, House, Leach, Oller, Robert Pacheco, Runner, and Zettel) (Coauthors: Senators Johannessen and Knight) FEBRUARY 24, 1999 An act to amend Sections 1808, 1810, 12800.5, and 13005.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to the Department of Motor Vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 771, Briggs. Vehicles: driver's licenses: identification cards: photographs and physical characteristics. Under existing law, a driver's license or identification card is required to bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the licensee or applicant and other information concerning the licensee or applicant, including information pertaining to the licensee's or applicant's physical characteristics. The Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to sell information from its records, with specified exceptions. This bill would prohibit the department from distributing or selling, unless requested by the licensee or applicant, the licensee' s or applicant's picture or photograph or any information pertaining to the licensee's or applicant's physical characteristics to any private individual, other than the licensee or applicant, or to any firm, copartnership, association, or corporation, except as specified. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1808 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 1808. (a) Except where a specific provision of law prohibits the disclosure of records or information or provides for confidentiality, all records of the department relating to the registration of vehicles, other information contained on an application for a driver' s license, abstracts of convictions, and abstracts of accident reports required to be sent to the department in Sacramento, except for abstracts of accidents where, in the opinion of a reporting officer, another individual was at fault, shall be open to public inspection during office hours. All abstracts of accident reports shall be available to law enforcement agencies and courts of competent jurisdiction. (b) The department shall make available or disclose abstracts of convictions and abstracts of accident reports required to be sent to the department in Sacramento, as described in subdivision (a), if the date of the occurrence is not later than the following: (1) Seven years for any violation designated as two points pursuant to Section 12810. (2) Three years for accidents and all other violations. (c) The department shall make available or disclose suspensions and revocations of the driving privilege while the suspension or revocation is in effect and for three years following termination of the action or reinstatement of the privilege, except that drivers license suspension actions taken pursuant to Sections 13202.6 and 13202.7, or Section 256 or 11350.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be disclosed only during the actual time period in which the suspension is in effect. (d) The department shall not make available or disclose any suspension or revocation that has been judicially set aside or stayed. (e) The department shall not make available or disclose personal information about any person unless the disclosure is in compliance with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 2721 et seq.). However, any disclosure is subject to the prohibition in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12800.5. SEC. 2. Section 1810 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 1810. (a) Except as provided in Sections 1806.5, 1808.2, 1808.4, 1808.5, 1808.7, 1808.8, and paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12800.5, the department may permit inspection of, or sell, or both, information from its records concerning the registration of any vehicle or information from the files of drivers' licenses at a charge sufficient to pay the actual cost to the department for providing the inspection or sale of the information, including, but not limited to, costs incurred by the department in carrying out subdivision (b), with the charge for the information to be determined by the director. This section does not apply to statistical information of the type previously compiled and distributed by the department. (b) (1) With respect to the inspection or sale of information concerning the registration of any vehicle or of information from the files of drivers' licenses, the department shall, by regulation, establish administrative procedures under which any person making a request for that information shall be required to identify himself or herself and state the reason for making the request. The procedures shall provide for the verification of the name and address of the person making a request for the information, and the department may require the person to produce that information as it determines is necessary to ensure that the name and address of the person is the true name and address. The procedures may provide for a 10-day delay in the release of the requested information. The procedures shall also provide for notification to the person to whom the information primarily relates, as to what information was provided and to whom it was provided. The department shall, by regulation, establish a reasonable period of time for which a record of all the foregoing shall be maintained. (2) The procedures required by this subdivision do not apply to any governmental entity, any person who has applied for and has been issued a requester code by the department, or any court of competent jurisdiction. (c) With respect to the inspection or sale of information from the files of drivers' licenses, the department may require both the full name of the driver and either the driver's license number or date of birth as identifying points of the record, except that the department may disclose a record without two identifying points if the department determines that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in personal privacy. (d) With respect to the inspection or sale of information from the files of drivers' licenses, certificates of ownership, and registration cards, the department shall not, for a fee or otherwise, allow copying by the public. SEC. 3. Section 12800.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 12800.5. (a) (1) A license shall bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the licensee. (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department shall not, unless requested by the licensee, distribute or sell the licensee's picture or photograph or any information pertaining to the licensee's physical characteristics to any private individual, other than the licensee, or to any firm, copartnership, association, or corporation. This paragraph does not apply to any private business entity that contracts with the department for the production of driver's licenses and identification cards, if the contract prohibits the unauthorized use and disclosure of the information. (b) A license, including a temporary license issued pursuant to Section 12506, shall bear the following notice: "This license is issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle; it does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits." (c) The department may demand proof of age prior to the issuance of a license. SEC. 4. Section 13005.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 13005.5. (a) An identification card issued to any person shall bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the person. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department shall not, unless requested by the applicant, distribute or sell the applicant's picture or photograph or any information pertaining to the applicant's physical characteristics to any private individual, other than the applicant, or to any firm, copartnership, association, or corporation. This subdivision does not apply to any private business entity that contracts with the department for the production of driver's licenses and identification cards, if the contract prohibits the unauthorized use and disclosure of the information.