BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1268
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1268 (Simitian) - As Amended: August 2, 2010
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:10-2
Judiciary 10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires transportation agencies that operate
electronic toll collection system-Caltrans, the Bay Area Toll
Authority, any entity operating a toll bridge, toll lane, or
toll highway, or any party under contract with these entities-to
regularly purge personal account information, and prohibits
these agencies from selling or providing subscribers' personal
information to others, with specified exceptions. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires the transportation agencies to establish a privacy
policy, as specified, provide this policy to subscribers and
post the policy on the agencies' websites.
2)Authorizes the agencies to store only personally identifiable
information on subscribers as needed to perform accounting
functions and enforcement activities, and, after July 1, 2011,
requires all other personal account information to be
discarded within 4.5 years after the closure of a billing
cycle.
3)Requires the agencies, after July 1, 2011, to take every
effort to purge personal account information after an account
is closed or terminated, and in no case to maintain such
information more than 4.5 years after termination.
4)Stipulates this measure does not prohibit an agency from
communicating to subscribers about its products or services
if, for customer agreements entered into after January 1,
2011, the agency receives the subscriber's written consent to
SB 1268
Page 2
do so.
5)Authorizes a person whose personally identifiable information
has been sold or provided in violation of the above to bring
an action to recover the greater of actual damages or $2,500
for each individual violation ($4,000 for three or such
incidents) plus reasonable costs and attorney's fees.
6)Authorizes agencies to charge an administrative fee to cover
the costs of implementing the above.
FISCAL EFFECT
No impact to Caltrans, as such personal identifiable information
is kept by the local transportation agencies that operate toll
systems. Any costs to these local agencies will not be
state-reimbursable, because these costs will be covered through
administrative fees authorized in the bill.
COMMENTS
Purpose . This bill is a response to the increasing use of
electronic toll collections systems such as FasTrak, whereby the
subscriber's vehicle contains a tag that is read electronically
and the subscriber is subsequently billed for each pass through.
The transportation agencies offering this service must collect
personal information from subscribers, including name, address,
and often a credit card number, for purposes of billing. This
bill seeks to protect the privacy of the personal information by
prohibiting agencies from selling or otherwise sharing data with
third parties, subject to certain exceptions. This bill also
requires the agencies to regularly purge personal information
within 4.5 years of account closure and permits a transportation
agency to communicate with subscribers about other services that
it may offer, but only if the subscriber "opts in" and agrees to
receive such communications in writing.
The most recent amendments appear to have removed any opposition
to the bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 1268
Page 3