Privacy & Identity Theft

SACRAMENTO--Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today called upon California’s Internet service providers to follow the lead of Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Sprint by “removing child pornography from existing servers and blocking channels” that disseminate the illegal material.

“Protecting the safety of our children must be a top priority, not just for government, but also for businesses with the direct power to reduce the ability to conduct illegal activity,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said in a joint letter to the California Internet Service Provider Association, which represents more than 100 Internet service providers in California.

“We applaud three of the world’s largest Internet service providers—Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint—for taking steps to block access to child pornography. It is not enough, however, for only a few Internet service providers to join the fight against online predators. Child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment, and distributing this material is illegal.”

On June 10, 2008, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced agreements with Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint, to block access to child pornography by purging their servers of existing child pornography and eliminating access to child pornography newsgroups.

Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Brown said other Internet service providers should follow these companies’ lead by ridding their own servers of child pornography and preventing access to illegal content through newsgroups.

“The California Internet Service Providers Association is the largest association of Internet providers in the country and we are asking your members to take their leadership role seriously. The association can begin by working with its more than 100 members to remove child pornography from existing servers and blocking channels, which include newsgroups, used for distributing this material,” Schwarzenegger and Brown said.

California is home to the Silicon Valley which has hundreds of Internet service providers, ranging from large companies to smaller, local providers. Some of the major providers include AT&T and AOL. According to the California ISP Association, the largest such association in the country, there are more than 100 Internet service providers in California.

The California Attorney General’s office has been working with other states to protect children from dangerous predators on the Internet. California recently joined 49 other states in reaching agreements with Myspace and Facebook so that those social networking sites take steps, including age and ID verification processes, to protect children from online sexual predators. The attorney general’s office also deploys special agents who conduct undercover investigations into online sexual predators. For more information about the apprehension teams, visit: www.ag.ca.gov/cbi

A copy of Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Brown’s letter to the California Internet Service Providers Association, sent today, is attached.

LOS ANGELES--California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today called upon CVS Pharmacy to immediately stop selling expired products, including baby food and over-the-counter medications, which were discovered during recent undercover shopping investigation in Southern California. The attorney general also asked the CVS to comply with California laws requiring proper storage and disposal consumer’s confidential medical and financial information.

“State investigators found that dozens of CVS pharmacies in Southern California have old and expired products, including medicines and baby food,” Attorney General Brown said. “CVS Pharmacy should immediately pull these expired products from its shelves and ensure that these consumer safety violations do not occur again,” Brown added.

During a recent undercover shopping operation, state investigators found 48 expired products on the shelves of 26 CVS Pharmacies in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties. Some of the expired products--which included baby formula, toddler food, and over-the-counter medications--were between four and six months old. Investigators also discovered expired food products including milk and eggs. Some of the products’ “sell by” dates were hidden with price tags or other store stickers.

Recent investigations by the New York Attorney General have also found that CVS Pharmacies in New York have engaged in similarly unlawful selling practices. In a letter sent today, Attorney General Brown asked CVS Pharmacy to change its sales practices to make certain that sales of expired product do not occur in the future.

The California Attorney General’s Office had launched its investigation into CVS Pharmacy sales practices in March, 2008 after receiving consumer reports about expired products on store shelves in Southern California.

Although California law does not explicitly prohibit the sale of certain expired products, federal laws require that products contain expiration dates. The attorney general asserts that placing expired items on its shelves violates false advertising and unfair business practices statues because CVS Pharmacy falsely implies that its products meet national quality control standards.

Attorney General Brown also asked CVS Pharmacy to disclose its formal policies regarding the collection, retention and destruction of such information to determine whether the company is complying with California law. The attorney general has reason to believe that the company may not have properly safeguarded or disposed of consumers’ private health and financial information, in violation of state consumer protection laws.

In February, 2008 Brown reached a settlement with The Walgreen Company after state investigators discovered that that company had failed to properly retain, safeguard and dispose of confidential customer information, in violation of California laws including California Civil Code section 1798.81 Under the terms of that settlement, Walgreens agreed to revise its disposal and retention policies, implement ongoing employee training, and annually review those policies.

In addition to the ceasing the sale of expired products, Attorney General Brown today asked CVS Pharmacy to quickly resolve its practice of not protecting private consumer information.

CVS Pharmacy, a division of CVS Caremark Corporation, is the largest retail pharmacy in the United States with more than 6,300 retail locations and approximately 300 stores in California, most in Southern California. The company is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

LOS ANGELES--In an effort to bolster personal privacy and intellectual property rights, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that District Attorneys in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego will begin receiving funds for the fight against identity theft violations. The funds, which will be used to purchase specialized equipment, will also assist prosecutors in the evaluation of intellectual property rights violations and other privacy violations. The financial disbursements are the direct result of the state's settlement of a civil case against Hewlett Packard following allegations that the company engaged in the practice of pretexting in order to gain unlawful access to phone records.

The disbursement, totaling $178,000, marks the first of many payments from the state's $13.5 million Privacy and Piracy Fund established in the wake of the settlement. The funds will be used to purchase equipment, including technology for forensic computer analysis, which will assist in the evaluation of evidence from identity theft investigations.

Brown said: 'This Fund provides substantial sums to local prosecutors, over the next decade, to defend against against high-tech crimes and identity theft. This action, the first of many, is another step towards protecting personal privacy in the age of the Internet.'

Today's recipients of the grant are the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the Orange County District Attorney's Office, and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Every year, up to $500,000 from the Fund can be distributed to district attorneys and city attorneys so that they can conduct investigations and bring prosecutions to protect privacy rights and intellectual property rights.

The civil complaint alleged that Hewlett Packard used false pretenses to obtain personal confidential information, including billing records, from phone companies.

Attorney General Brown will continue to accept applications for disbursements from the Fund for the remainder of 2007. District attorneys and city attorneys are encouraged to continue submitting applications, pursuant to the instructions outlined at: http://ag.ca.gov/hpsettlement/

The settlement agreement is attached.