BILL NUMBER: AB 1168 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
DeVore, Huffman, Karnette,
Portantino, and Salas )
( Coauthor: Senator Romero
)
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to add Sections 1798.88 and 1798.89 to the Civil Code, to
amend Sections 9516 and 9521 of, and to add Section 9526.5 to, the
Commercial Code, to add Section 66018.55 to the Education Code, and
to amend Section 27361 of, to add Sections 6254.27 and 15705 to, and
to add Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 27300) to Chapter 6 of
Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of, the Government Code, relating to
social security numbers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1168, as amended, Jones. Social security numbers.
(1) Existing law establishes the University of California, under
the administration of the Regents of the University of California,
the California State University, under the administration of the
Trustees of the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges, and private,
independent institutions of higher education as the 4 segments of
postsecondary education in this state.
This bill would require the Office of Privacy Protection in the
Department of Consumer Affairs to establish a task force, with
specified members, to conduct a review of the use by all public and
private colleges and universities in this state of social security
numbers in order to recommend practices to minimize the collection,
use, storage, and retention of social security numbers. It would
require the task force to commence meetings no later than 60 days
after the effective date of these provisions and, on or before July
1, 2009, to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to
the Office of Privacy Protection and to the Assembly Committee on
Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Judiciary .
Judiciary.
(2) Existing law prohibits any person or entity from publicly
posting or displaying in any manner an individual's social security
number, printing an individual's social security number on any card
required to access products or services, requiring an individual to
transmit his or her social security number over the Internet,
requiring an individual to use his or her social security number to
access an Internet Web site, or printing an individual's social
security number on any materials that are mailed to the individual,
with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that these
prohibitions do not apply to documents that are recorded or required
to be open to the public pursuant to the California Public Records
Act.
The California Public Records Act requires state and local
agencies to make their records available for public inspection unless
a record is exempt from disclosure. The act exempts from disclosure,
among others, any record that is a personnel, medical, or similar
file the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy.
This bill would provide that, notwithstanding these provisions, a
local agency, before disclosing to the public any record that is
required to be open to the public by any provision of law, shall
truncate redact all of the digits of
any social security number on the record by redacting the
first 5 digits of that number . The bill would provide
exceptions to this requirement for a county recorder and for
disclosure of death records . By creating
a new standard for disclosure of records by local agencies, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill also would provide that, unless required to do so by
state or federal law, no person, entity, or government agency shall
record or file present for recording or
filing with a local agency a document that displays more than
the last 4 digits of a social security number, as specified.
(3) Existing law establishes in state government the Franchise Tax
Board to, among other duties, administer the Personal Income Tax Law
and the Corporation Tax Law.
This bill would provide that, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, unless prohibited by federal law, the board shall truncate
social security numbers on lien abstracts and any other records
created by the board that are disclosable under the California Public
Records Act before disclosing the record to the public.
(4) Existing law specifies requirements for the filing of various
documents with the Secretary of State and other filing offices.
This bill would apply requirements to truncate
redact social security numbers on specified filings.
(5) Existing law requires the recorder of each county, upon
payment of proper fees and taxes, to accept for recordation any
instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required by law to
be recorded, as specified, and specifies that these recorded
documents shall be called "official records."
This bill would require the recorder of each county to establish a
social security number truncation program in order to create a
"public record" version of each "official record" so that the "public
record" is in an electronic format and is an exact copy of the
"official record" except that any social security number contained in
the "official record" shall be truncated by redacting the first 5
digits of that number. These provisions would apply to any document
recorded since January 1, 1935 1962 ,
as specified. It would provide that when a "public record" version of
an "official record" exists, and upon request of any person to
inspect, for a copy of, or to otherwise publicly disclose that
record, the recorder shall make available only the "public record"
version of that record, and publicly disclose the "official record"
only in response to a subpoena or court order. By creating new duties
for county recorders, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
Existing law establishes a fee for recording documents with the
county recorder at $4 for the first page and $3 for each additional
page and authorizes a county recorder to assess additional specified
fees.
This bill would authorize a county recorder, upon authorization of
the board of supervisors, to charge an additional fee of up
to $1 for recording the first page and $1 for
each additional page of each document , to be
used only by the county recorder collecting the fee to implement a
social security number truncation program pursuant to these
provisions. It would provide that a board shall not authorize
this fee unless the board requires the county auditor to audit the
county's use of funds generated by this fee, as specified. It
would require each county recorder, no later than June 1, 2008, to
petition the board of supervisors for the authority to levy the this
fee.
The bill also would request require
that the County Recorders Association of California, no later than
January 1, 2009, and annually thereafter, submit to the Assembly
Committee on Judiciary, Senate Committee on Judiciary, and the Office
of Privacy Protection a report on the progress each county recorder
has made in complying with these provisions. It would require the
Office of Privacy Protection, on or before January 1, 2013
2018 , to report to these committees on whether
counties need to continue to levy the fee authorized by these
provisions.
(6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1798.88 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1798.88. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 1798.85
or any other provision of law, unless required by federal law, a
local agency, before disclosing to the public any record that is
required to be open to the public by any provision of law, shall
truncate any social security number on the record. For
purposes of this section, "truncate" means to redact the first five
digits of a social security number. redact all the
digits of any social security number on the record.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the provisions of this
section shall not apply to a county recorder that has
instituted a program pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section
27300) of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the
Government Code. section shall not apply to either of
the following:
(1) A county recorder.
(2) The disclosure of death records pursuant to Section
103525 of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 2. Section 1798.89 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1798.89. Unless otherwise required to do so by state or federal
law, no person, entity, or government agency shall record or
file present for recording and filing with a
local agency a document that is required by any provision of law to
be open to the public if that record displays a social security
number that includes more than the last four digits of that number.
SEC. 3. Section 9516 of the Commercial Code is amended to read:
9516. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b),
communication of a record to a filing office and tender of the filing
fee or acceptance of the record by the filing office constitutes
filing.
(b) Filing does not occur with respect to a record that a filing
office refuses to accept because of any of the following:
(1) The record is not communicated by a method or medium of
communication authorized by the filing office.
(2) An amount equal to or greater than the applicable filing fee
is not tendered.
(3) The filing office is unable to index the record because of any
of the following:
(A) In the case of an initial financing statement, the record does
not provide a name for the debtor.
(B) In the case of an amendment or correction statement, either of
the following applies with respect to the record:
(i) It does not identify the initial financing statement as
required by Section 9512 or 9518, as applicable.
(ii) It identifies an initial financing statement whose
effectiveness has lapsed under Section 9515.
(C) In the case of an initial financing statement that provides
the name of a debtor identified as an individual or an amendment that
provides a name of a debtor identified as an individual which was
not previously provided in the financing statement to which the
record relates, the record does not identify the debtor's last name.
(D) In the case of a record filed or recorded in the filing office
described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 9501, the
record does not provide a sufficient description of the real property
to which it relates.
(4) In the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment
that adds a secured party of record, the record does not provide a
name and mailing address for the secured party of record.
(5) In the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment
that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided in
the financing statement to which the amendment relates, the record
does not do any of the following:
(A) Provide a mailing address for the debtor.
(B) Indicate whether the debtor is an individual or an
organization.
(C) If the financing statement indicates that the debtor is an
organization, provide any of the following:
(i) A type of organization for the debtor.
(ii) A jurisdiction of organization for the debtor.
(iii) An organizational identification number for the debtor or
indicate that the debtor has none.
(6) In the case of an assignment reflected in an initial financing
statement under subdivision (a) of Section 9514 or an amendment
filed under subdivision (b) of Section 9514, the record does not
provide a name and mailing address for the assignee.
(7) In the case of a continuation statement, the record is not
filed within the six-month period prescribed by subdivision (d) of
Section 9515.
(8) The record contains more than the last four digits of
a social security number.
(c) For purposes of subdivision (b), both of the following rules
apply:
(1) A record does not provide information if the filing office is
unable to read or decipher the information.
(2) A record that does not indicate that it is an amendment or
identify an initial financing statement to which it relates, as
required by Section 9512, 9514, or 9518, is an initial financing
statement.
(d) A record that is communicated to the filing office with tender
of the filing fee, but which the filing office refuses to accept for
a reason other than one set forth in subdivision (b), is effective
as a filed record except as against a purchaser of the collateral
which gives value in reasonable reliance upon the absence of the
record from the files.
SEC. 4. Section 9521 of the Commercial Code is amended to read:
9521. (a) A filing office that accepts written records may not
refuse to accept a written initial financing statement in the
following form and format, except for a reason set forth in
subdivision (b) of Section 9516: (GRAPHIC INSERT HERE: SEE PRINTED
VERSION OF THE BILL) (GRAPHIC INSERT HERE: SEE PRINTED VERSION OF
THE BILL)
(b) A filing office that accepts written records may not refuse to
accept a written record in the following form and format, except for
a reason set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 9516: (GRAPHIC
INSERT HERE: SEE PRINTED VERSION OF THE BILL) (GRAPHIC INSERT HERE:
SEE PRINTED VERSION OF THE BILL)
SEC. 5. Section 9526.5 is added to the Commercial Code, to read:
9526.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a filing
office shall truncate any social security number on a filed
public record before disclosing the record to
the public. For purposes of this section, "truncate" means to redact
at least the first five digits of a social security
number.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a local agency in compliance
with Section 1798.88 of the Civil Code shall be deemed to be in
compliance with this section. Nothing in this section shall be deemed
to require a local agency to comply with the provisions of Section
1798.88 of the Civil Code before January 1, ____.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the provisions of this
section shall not apply to a county recorder.
SEC. 7. Section 66018.55 is added to the Education Code, to read:
66018.55. (a) As used in this section "college and university"
shall include all institutions of public higher education and all
independent institutions of higher education.
(b) The Office of Privacy Protection in the Department of Consumer
Affairs shall establish a task force to conduct a review of the use
by all colleges and universities of social security numbers in order
to recommend practices to minimize the collection, use, storage, and
retention of social security numbers in relation to academic and
operational needs and applicable legal requirements.
(c) The task force shall be known as the "College and University
Social Security Number Task Force." The Office of Privacy Protection
shall determine the composition of the task force, which shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Two representatives from each of the three institutions of
public higher education.
(2) Two representatives of the California Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities.
(3) Two representatives each from two organizations devoted to the
protection of personal privacy.
(4) One representative from a national organization devoted to the
management of informational technology in higher education.
(5) One representative from the business community with expertise
in technological solutions to privacy concerns.
(6) One representative each from the Assembly Committee on
Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Judiciary.
(d) The task force shall seek input, as deemed necessary and
appropriate, from all of the following:
(1) Representatives of organizations with expertise in technical
policy and practices of Internet disclosure, private policy relevant
to Internet disclosure, and fostering public integrity and
accountability.
(2) The constituencies of the college and university communities,
including students, staff, and faculty.
(e) The task force shall review and make recommendations to
minimize the collection, use, storage, and retention of social
security numbers by California colleges and universities and shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A survey of best practices at colleges and universities and
the costs of implementing those best practices.
(2) The necessary use and protection of social security numbers
for all of the following:
(A) Research purposes.
(B) Academic purposes, including, but not limited to, academic
research, admission, financial aid, and other related operational
uses.
(C) Operational uses by academic medical centers, including, but
not limited to, patient identification, tracking, and care.
(D) Business purposes, including, but not limited to, the
provision of employee benefits, tax purposes, loan programs, and
other requirements imposed by current state and federal statutes and
regulations.
(E) Any other operational need of the college or university.
(3) Current personal privacy protections provided to students,
staff, and faculty of colleges and universities.
(4) Existing state and federal legal requirements, including
regulatory requirements, mandating the use of social security numbers
at colleges and universities.
(5) The possible use of personal identifiers or other substitutes
for social security numbers that protect personal information and
meet the operational needs of colleges and universities.
(6) The cost of funding any recommendations presented by the task
force, including those that are of minimal cost and can be
implemented immediately and those that require additional funding or
time to implement.
(f) The task force shall commence meetings no later than 60 days
after the effective date of this section.
(g) (1) On or before July 1, 2009, the task force shall submit a
final report of its findings and recommendations to the Office of
Privacy Protection, and to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and
the Senate Committee on Judiciary.
(2) The final report shall also include a list of all existing use
of social security numbers at colleges and universities.
(3) The findings and recommendations of the task force shall be
informational only and shall not be binding on any college or
university.
SEC. 8. Section 6254.27 is added to the Government Code, to read:
6254.27. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require
the disclosure by a county recorder of any "official record" if a
"public record" version of that record is available pursuant to
Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 27300) of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of
Division 2 of Title 3.
SEC. 9. Section 15705 is added to the Government Code, to read:
15705. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless
prohibited by federal law, the Franchise Tax Board shall truncate
social security numbers on lien abstracts and any other records
created by the board that are disclosable under Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 before
disclosing the record to the public. For purposes of this section,
"truncate" means to redact the first five digits of a social security
number.
SEC. 10. Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 27300) is added to
Chapter 6 of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code,
to read:
Article 3.5. Social Security Number Truncation Program
27300. As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Official record" means the permanent archival record of all
instruments, papers, and notices as accepted for recording by a
county recorder.
(b) "Public record" means a record that is in an electronic format
and is an exact copy of an official record except that any social
security number contained in that record is truncated. The
public record shall have the same legal force and effect as the
official record.
(c) "Truncate" means to redact the first five digits of a social
security number.
(d) "Truncated social security number" means a social security
number that displays only the last four digits of the number.
27301. The county recorder of each county shall establish a
social security number truncation program in order to create a public
record version of each official record. The program shall include
both of the following components, which the recorder shall implement
concurrently:
(a) For each official record recorded between January 1,
1935 1962 , and December 31, 2008, the recorder
shall create in an electronic format an exact copy of the record
except that any social security number contained in the record shall
be truncated. The recorder shall first truncate the social security
numbers in all records that already exist in an electronic format and
then create an electronic version of all other records and truncate
social security numbers contained in those records. Each group of
records shall be handled in descending chronological order.
(b) For each official record recorded on or after January 1, 2009,
the recorder shall create a copy of that record in an electronic
format and truncate any social security number contained in that
record.
27302. (a) A county recorder shall be deemed to be in compliance
with the requirements of Section 27301 if he or she uses due
diligence to locate and truncate social security numbers in official
records while applying industry best practices. A county recorder
shall not be liable for failure to truncate a social security number.
(b) Any person may request that a county recorder truncate his or
her social security number contained in a public record.
Notwithstanding that a county recorder may be deemed to be in
compliance with Section 27301 pursuant to subdivision (a), a county
recorder that receives a request that identifies the exact location
of an untruncated social security number within a specifically
identified public record, shall truncate that number within 10
business days of receiving the request. The public record with
the truncated social security number shall replace the record with
the untruncated number.
27303. When a public record version of an official record exists,
both of the following shall apply:
(a) Upon request of any person to inspect, for a copy of, or to
otherwise publicly disclose an official record that is not exempt
from disclosure, a county recorder shall make available only the
public record version of that record.
(b) A county recorder shall publicly disclose an official record
only in response to a subpoena or order of a court of competent
jurisdiction.
27304. (a) Each county may use funds generated by fees authorized
by subdivision (d) of Section 27361 to implement a social security
number truncation program required by this article.
(b) No later than June 1, 2008, the county recorder of each county
shall petition the board of supervisors in that county for the
authority to levy the fee authorized by subdivision (d) of Section
27361.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that in the interest of
enabling county recorders to act expeditiously to protect the privacy
of Californians, counties be permitted to seek revenue anticipation
loans or other outside funding sources for the implementation of a
social security number truncation program to be secured by the
anticipated revenue from the fee authorized by subdivision (d) of
Section 27361.
27305. (a) To assist the Legislature in monitoring the progress
of each county recorder's social security number truncation program,
the County Recorders Association of California, no later than January
1, 2009, and annually thereafter, shall submit to the chairpersons
of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and of the Senate Committee on
Judiciary, and to the Office of Privacy Protection, or any successor
agency, a report on the progress each county recorder has made in
complying with this article.
(b) Upon the Office of Privacy Protection making a determination
that all counties have completed the component of the program
described in subdivision (a) of Section 27301, the report described
in subdivision (a) of this section shall no longer be required.
27306. On or before January 1, 2013 2018
, the Office of Privacy Protection shall report to the
chairpersons of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and of the Senate
Committee on Judiciary on whether counties need to continue to levy
the fee authorized by Section 27361.
27307. A county recorder is authorized to take all actions
required by this article notwithstanding subdivision (d) of Section
27203 or any other provision of law.
SEC. 11. Section 27361 of the Government Code is amended to read:
27361. (a) The fee for recording and indexing every instrument,
paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded is four
dollars ($4) for recording the first page and three dollars ($3) for
each additional page, except the recorder may charge additional fees
as follows:
(1) If the printing on printed forms is spaced more than nine
lines per vertical inch or more than 22 characters and spaces per
inch measured horizontally for not less than 3 inches in one
sentence, the recorder shall charge one dollar ($1) extra for each
page or sheet on which printing appears excepting, however, the extra
charge shall not apply to printed words which are directive or
explanatory in nature for completion of the form or on vital
statistics forms. Fees collected under this paragraph are not subject
to subdivision (b) or (c).
(2) If a page or sheet does not conform with the dimensions
described in subdivision (a) of Section 27361.5, the recorder shall
charge three dollars ($3) extra per page or sheet of the document.
The extra charge authorized under this paragraph shall be available
solely to support, maintain, improve, and provide for the full
operation for modernized creation, retention, and retrieval of
information in each county's system of recorded documents. Fees
collected under this paragraph are not subject to subdivision (b) or
(c).
(b) One dollar ($1) of each three dollar ($3) fee for each
additional page shall be deposited in the county general fund.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 68085, one dollar ($1) for recording
the first page and one dollar ($1) for each additional page shall be
available solely to support, maintain, improve, and provide for the
full operation for modernized creation, retention, and retrieval of
information in each county's system of recorded documents.
(d) (1) In addition to all other fees
authorized by this section, a county recorder may charge a fee of
up to one dollar ($1) for recording the first page
of every instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law
to be recorded, and one dollar ($1) for each additional
page, as authorized by each county's board of supervisors.
The funds generated by this fee shall be used only by the county
recorder collecting the fee for the purpose of implementing a social
security number truncation program pursuant to Article 3.5
(commencing with Section 27300).
(2) A county board of supervisors shall not authorize the fee
described in this subdivision unless the board requires the county
auditor to conduct two audits to determine whether the funds
generated by this fee are used only by the county recorder collecting
the fee for the purpose of implementing Article 3.5 (commencing with
Section 27300) and for conducting these audits. The board shall
require that the first audit be completed not before June 1, 2012, or
after December 31, 2013, and that the second audit be completed not
before June 1, 2017, or after December 31, 2017. The audits shall
adhere to generally accepted accounting standards, and the audit
results shall be made available to the public.
SEC. 12. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.