BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 636
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 21, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 636 (Corbett) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
PROPOSED CONSENT (As Proposed to Be Amended)
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Internet Disclosures: Safe at Home Program
KEY ISSUES :
1)Should the internet posting of personal information about a
domestic violence program participant be a crime if done with
the intent of placing the participant in imminent danger?
2)should participants have the right to demand that certain
personal information be removed from an internet website?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
California's "Safe at Home" program allows survivors of domestic
violence, stalking, and sexual abuse to participate in a program
that allows state and local agencies to respond to requests for
public records without disclosing the participant's name change
or residential address. A program participant may also request
that state and local agencies, when creating a public record
concerning the participant, use an address designated by the
SOS. The SOS may not disclose the participant's name change or
residential address except to law enforcement or by court order.
The SOS may also disclose information if the participant's
program certification is cancelled; this bill, however, would
permit the SOS to disclose the information of cancelled
participants only if cancelation resulted from a determination
that the participant had provided false information to avoid
detection of unlawful activity or apprehension by law
enforcement. In addition, this bill would criminalize and make
actionable the posting of a participant's personal information
with the intent to cause imminent harm to the participant and
requires a person who posts a participant's personal information
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to remove it if requested to do so by the participant. The bill
would also amend an existing law that protects patients and
workers at a reproductive health facility, so that the criminal
and civil penalties for the two programs mirror each other.
This bill passed off the Senate Floor by a 39-0 vote. This
analysis reflects the bill as proposed to be amended in this
Committee. Those amendments make appropriate cross-references
in other existing code sections and clarify that the changes
proposed by this bill do not affect the SOS's obligation to keep
records for three years. This bill is supported by a broad
coalition of groups. There is no known opposition.
SUMMARY : Gives greater protections to participants in the "Safe
at Home" address confidentiality program for domestic violence
victims. Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits the Secretary of State (SOS) from disclosing the
personal information of a "Safe at Home" participant even if
the participant's program certification has been cancelled,
unless the participant's certification has been cancelled
because a program manager determined that false information
was used in the application process as a subterfuge to avoid
detection of illegal activity or apprehension by law
enforcement.
2)Prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly
and intentionally posting, displaying, soliciting, selling, or
trading on the Internet the home address, home telephone
number, or image of a program participant or other individual
residing at the same address as the participant with the
intent to imminently cause great bodily harm to the person or
to place the person in reasonable fear for his or her safety.
3)Prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly
and intentionally posting or displaying the home address or
home phone number of a program participant if the participant
has made a written demand of that person, business, or
association to not disclose his or her information. Describes
how such a demand must be made and makes the demand effective
for four years.
4)Provides that a participant whose information is posted or
displayed in violation of the above provisions may bring an
action for injunctive relief or money damages, as specified.
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5)Makes it a crime for a person to post on the Internet the
personal information of a program participant, or of a
participant's family member, with the intent that another
person imminently use that information to commit a crime
involving violence or a threat of violence against the
participant or the program participant's family members who
are participating in the program.
6)Makes it a crime for a person to post on the Internet the
personal information of a provider, employee, volunteer, or
patient of a reproductive health service facility, or other
individuals residing at the same address, with the intent that
another person imminently use that information to commit a
crime involving violence or the threat of violence against the
provider, employee, volunteer, or patient of a reproductive
health service facility or other individuals residing at the
same address.
7)Makes conforming changes to clarify that any prohibitions on
disclosure added by #1 above does not change the requirement
that all records and documents pertaining to a program
participant must be retained by the SOS for a period of three
years after termination of certification and then destroyed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits a person who is a victim of domestic violence, as
defined, to apply to the Secretary of State (SOS) to
participate in a confidentiality program. Provides that
program participants, once certified, 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 specified.
(Government Code Sections 6206 and 6207.)
2)Prohibits the SOS from disclosing 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. (Government Code Sections 6206, 6206.4 and
6208.)
3)Requires that any records or documents pertaining to a program
participant shall be retained and held confidential for a
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period of three years after termination of a certification and
then destroyed. (Government Code Section 6206.5 (e).)
4)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. (Government Code Section
6206.7(b).)
5)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 member, then the person who violates this
provision is guilty of a felony. (Penal Code Section 146e.)
6)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.
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. (Government Code Section 6218.)
7)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
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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. (Government Code Section 6254.21.)
COMMENTS : Persons attempting to escape from domestic violence,
sexual assault, and stalking must sometimes establish new names
and addresses in order to prevent their abusers from finding
them. California's "Safe at Home" program, which is
administered by the Secretary of State (SOS), allows survivors
of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual abuse to participate
in a program that allows state and local agencies to respond to
requests for public records without disclosing the participant's
name change or residential address, if either piece of
information is contained in that public record. A program
participant may also request that state and local agencies, when
creating a public record concerning the participant, use an
address designated by the SOS, and to have the SOS forward any
mail sent by a state or local agency to the program participant.
The SOS may not disclose the participant's name change or
residential address except to law enforcement or by court order.
The SOS may also disclose information if the participant's
program certification is cancelled. This bill would permit the
SOS to disclose the information only if cancelation resulted
from a determination that the participant had provided false
information to avoid detection of unlawful activity or
apprehension by law enforcement.
In addition, this bill would criminalize and make actionable the
posting of a participant's personal information with the intent
to cause harm to a participant, and it would require a person,
business, or association to remove a participant's personal
information if requested to do so by the participant. The bill
would also amend a parallel provision in an existing law that
similarly protects patients and workers at a reproductive health
facility so that the criminal and civil penalties mirror each
other.
Parallel Provisions in Existing Law : The provision of this bill
making it a crime to post personal information about a Safe at
Home participant on the Internet with the intent to cause harm
has parallels in other areas of the law. For example, Penal
Code Section 146e makes it a crime to publish, disseminate, or
disclose the residential address or telephone number of any
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peace officer, employee of a city police department or county
sheriff's office, or any family member of such a person, with
the intent to obstruct justice or inflict imminent physical harm
on such person. Government Code Section 6218 makes in unlawful
for any person to knowingly post or display on the Internet the
personal information of a provider, employee, volunteer, or
patient of a reproductive health services facility with the
intent to cause imminent harm to the person. A person affected
by a violation has the right to bring an action for injunctive
relief and specified damages. This bill would also amend this
section to impose criminal provisions that mirror the ones
created by this bill. Finally, Government Code Section 6254.21
prohibits state and local agencies from posting the home address
and telephone number of an elected or appointed official on the
Internet without that official's prior written consent. In
addition, this statute also makes it a crime to knowingly post
the personal information of the elected or appointed official on
the Internet with the intent to cause imminent bodily harm to
that individual, and it requires any person who posts an elected
or appointed official's personal information to remove if the
official makes a written request, as specified.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), the
sponsor of this bill, argues that this bill will enable Safe at
Home participants "to block their addresses and telephone
numbers from being posted on the Internet," and establish
"crimes for publishing or failing to remove their identifying
information." PRC notes that while participants can request
that Internet websites remove their personal information,
existing law does not require the websites to honor those
requests.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen supports this program because it
will give Safe at Home participants some of the same protections
and remedies that are currently afforded to patients,
volunteers, and workers of a reproductive health facility.
According to Secretary Bowen, this bill will provide "Safe at
Home participants with a tool to better protect their
information from being posted on the Internet," including the
right to make a written demand to any person or business that
posts the personal information to remove it from their website.
It would also give participants new criminal and civil remedies.
The California Commission on the Status of Women supports this
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bill because it will "protect the privacy of participants in the
Safe at Home program by giving them a mechanism to remove their
identifying information from Internet websites." The
Commission, which supported the original legislation creating
the Safe at Home Program, notes that the program has provided
about 4500 victims "an opportunity to live a new life without
the constant fear that they will be tracked down and further
victimized."
The bill is supported by several victims' rights groups, women's
groups, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, and
the California District Attorneys Association for substantially
the same reasons as those noted above.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (co-sponsor)
California Commission on the Status of Women
California District Attorneys Association
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Calegislation
Crime Victims United of California
Secretary of State, Debra Bowen
Survivors in Action
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334