BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 179
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 179 (Bocanegra and Levine)
As Amended September 4, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-1 |(May 24, 2013) |SENATE: |33-4 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS .
SUMMARY : Expands privacy protections currently afforded to
electronic toll collection subscribers to include users of
electronic transit fare collection systems.
The Senate amendments:
1)With respect to electronic transit fare collection systems,
exempt from the definition of "personally identifiable
information" photographic or video footage.
2)Make non-substantive technical changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The author introduced this bill to protect the
privacy of public transportation patrons who use an electronic
transit pass by limiting the use of personal information that is
collected every time the pass is swiped, or tapped. This bill's
introduction follows media accounts of privacy concerns related
to electronic fare collection systems.
One such system is the "Clipper" card system used in the San
Francisco Bay Area. The Clipper card allows a transit user to
pay fares on multiple transit systems using one card. Users can
add value to their card at any point or they can set up their
card to automatically reload whenever their pass expires or
their cash balance falls below $10. Users of the Clipper card
are not required to register their card, however. If a card is
unregistered, use of the system is linked to the card's serial
number only and the system has no personal information about the
cardholder.
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The Clipper card privacy policy states that, for patrons who
choose to register their Clipper card, their personally
identifiable information may be disclosed to third-party service
providers (e.g., contractor personnel who operate and maintain
the Clipper card service) for the purpose of operating and
maintaining the Clipper system; otherwise, personal information
is not to be disclosed to third parties, except as required by
law, ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, or where the
express written consent of the cardholder has been obtained.
The Transit Access Pass system in the Los Angeles area and the
Compass card system in the San Diego area operate similar to the
Clipper card system and both have nearly identical privacy
policies.
Several interested parties expressed concern that earlier
versions of this bill would have hindered a transportation
agency's ability to disclose photographic or videographic
information collected from a bus equipped with video recording
devices that documented an assault on a passenger or employee.
Agencies explained that delaying the release of this information
posed a safety risk to the community by impeding successful
apprehension of criminals or successful recovery of missing
persons. Senate amendments remedy this concern by excluding
this information from the prohibition against sharing personally
identifiable information.
Previous legislation : AB 839 (Salinas), Chapter 564, Statutes
of 2003, provides that videotapes or recordings made by a
security camera system operated as part of a public transit
system must be retained for one year.
SB 1268 (Simitian), Chapter 489, Statutes of 2010, imposed
privacy protections on electronic toll collection systems.
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN:
0002480
AB 179
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