Privacy Legislation Enacted in 2009

Unless otherwise noted, all laws go into effect January 1, 2010

AB 22 (Torres) - Computer Hacking Penalties
This law increases the maximum fines for those convicted of feloniously tampering with, interfering with, damaging, or obtaining unauthorized access to computer systems and computer data from the current maximum of $10,000 to $12,000. Penal Code § 502

AB 32 (Lieu) - Public Officials Online Personal Information
This is an amendment to an existing law, which prohibits posting or displaying on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official, as defined, if the official has made a written demand not to disclose his or her information. The amended law requires entities receiving such a demand to immediately remove the information and to ensure that it is not reposted. It also allows a designated employer or professional association to make the demand on behalf of such officials and sets damages for violation. Government Code § 6254.21

AB 130 (Jeffries) - Marriage Records
This law makes existing requirements for requests for a certified copy of a birth or death record and for the protection of specified confidential information also apply to marriage records. Family Code § 509, Health and Safety Code §§ 102230, 102231, 103525, 103525.5, 103526, 103526.5 and 103527

AB 524 (Bass) - Paparazzi, Publishers and Privacy
This law broadens the state's "invasion of privacy" statute to cover not just paparazzi but also the publishers and sellers of pictures or recordings who know that the pictures or recordings of someone engaged in personal or familial activity were obtained in violation of the statute. It also allows the imposition of civil fines for violations, and authorizes city attorneys and county counsels to recover those civil fines. Civil Code § 1708.8

AB 1094 (Conway) - Disposal of Personal Information/Abandoned Records
This is an amendment to existing law requiring a business to take reasonable steps to destroy customer records containing personal information securely by rendering them unreadable when disposing of them. The amendment provides a "safe harbor" from civil litigation for a business (such as a storage facility or landlord) that has come into possession of records containing personal information that were abandoned, so long as the business disposes of them as provided in the statute. Civil Code §§ 1798.80-1798.81 and 1798.84

SB 226 (Alquist) - Identity Theft Jurisdiction
This law provides that when multiple identity theft offenses occur in multiple jurisdictions and all of the offenses involve the same defendant or defendants and the same scheme or substantially similar activity, then jurisdiction for all offenses is proper in any one of the counties where one of the offenses occurred. Penal Code § 786

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