California Senate Bill SB1330 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1330AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 29, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator Simitian FEBRUARY 23, 2012 An act to add Title 1.81.23 (commencing with Section 1798.90.5) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to personal information. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1330, as amended, Simitian. License plate recognition technology: use of personal information. Existing law authorizes the Department of the California Highway Patrol to retain license plate data captured by license plate recognition (LPR) technology for not more than 60 days unless the data is being used as evidence or for the investigation of felonies. Existing law prohibits the department from selling the data or from making the data available to an agency that is not a law enforcement agency or an individual that is not a law enforcement officer. Existing law authorizes the department to use LPR data for the purpose of locating vehicles or persons reasonably suspected of being involved in the commission of a public offense and requires the department to monitor the internal use of the data to prevent unauthorized use and to submit to the Legislature, as a part of the annual automobile theft report, information on the department's LPR practices and usage. This bill would apply similar requirements to persons, as defined, who use LPR technology and would additionally require, among other things, compliance with all applicable statutory and constitutional requirements, and disclosure to a law enforcement agency only pursuant to a search warrant, except as specified. The bill would require a law enforcement agency that obtains data pursuant to a search warrant to notify the person whose information is disclosed that his or her records have been obtained. The bill would authorize a person whose information is sold or disclosed in violation of these provisions to bring a civil action and would entitle the person to recover any and all consequential and incidental damages, including all costs and attorney's fees. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Title 1.81.23 (commencing with Section 1798.90.5) is added to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to read: TITLE 1.81.23. CONFIDENTIALITY OF LICENSE PLATE INFORMATION 1798.90.5. (a) A person, other than a state and local law enforcement agency, shall comply with all applicable statutory and constitutional requirements and subdivision (b) when using license plate recognition (LPR) technology. As used in this section, a "person" has the same meaning as defined in Section 470 of the Vehicle Code. (b) A person who uses LPR technology shall comply with all of the following: (1) The person shall retain license plate data captured by LPR technology for not more than 60 days. (2)  The   Except     as provided in paragraph (3), the  person shall not sell LPR data for any purpose and shall not make the data available to an agency or person that is not a law enforcement agency or an individual who is not a law enforcement officer.  (3) A person may sell or distribute LPR data as follows:   (A) To a public parking authority, a vendor contracted with a public parking authority, or any subcontractor thereof, if the use of the data pertains to the collection of outstanding parking tickets or the enforcement of local parking ordinances.   (B) To a licensed repossession agency or its employees, to the legal owner of the collateral, as defined in subdivisions (e) and (n), of Section 7500.1 of the Business and Professions Code, or to the owner's authorized agent, if the use of the data pertains to the recovery or attempted recovery of collateral that requires registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles.   (3)   (4)  Except as provided in paragraph  (4)   (5)  , the person shall make data available to a law enforcement agency only pursuant to a search warrant. Absent a provision in the search warrant to the contrary, the law enforcement agency shall immediately, but in any event within no more than five days, notify the person whose information has been disclosed that his or her records have been obtained and shall provide that person with a copy of the search warrant and the identity of the law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer to whom the records were provided.  (4)  (5)  The person shall allow a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.1 or 830.2 of the Penal Code, when conducting a criminal or traffic collision investigation, to obtain personally identifiable information of a person if the officer has good cause to believe that a delay in obtaining this information by seeking a search warrant would cause an adverse result as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1524.2 of the Penal Code.  (5)   (6)  The person shall monitor the internal use of LPR data to prevent its unauthorized use.  (6)   (7)  The person shall adopt a privacy policy to ensure that personally identifiable information is not unlawfully disclosed.  (7)  (8)  The person shall conspicuously post the privacy policy on its Internet Web site.  (8)   (9)  The person shall report annually its LPR practices and usage, including the number of LPR data disclosures, a record of the law enforcement agencies or peace officers to which data was disclosed and for what purpose, and any changes in policy that affect privacy concerns, to the Department of Justice. (c) A person whose information is sold or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action and shall be entitled to recover any and all consequential and incidental damages, including all costs and attorney's fees.