BILL NUMBER: AB 2667INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom FEBRUARY 21, 2014 An act to add Sections 1802.22, 1802.23, 1802.24, 1802.25, 1803.12, and 1803.13 to the Civil Code, relating to electronic devices. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2667, as introduced, Bloom. Retail installment contracts: electronic devices: monitoring technology. Existing law, the Unruh Act, provides for the regulation of retail installment contracts, as defined. Existing law requires retail installment contracts to contain specified notices, including, among other things, information on costs and terms of repayment. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to willfully violate the provisions regulating retail installment contracts. This bill would add to these provisions regulating retail contracts provisions requiring a retail seller to provide clear and prominent notice to a buyer and obtain express consent from the buyer at the time of sale of an electronic device if that device has monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking technology installed and would prohibit a seller from installing the technology without providing clear and prominent notice and obtaining express consent from the buyer. The bill would prohibit a seller from using a monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking technology on an electronic device for any purpose other than to prevent fraud. Because a willful violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1802.22 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1802.22. "Electronic device" means a desktop or laptop computer, handheld device, tablet, smart phone, or other electronic product or device that has a platform on which to download, install, or run any software program, code, script, or other content. SEC. 2. Section 1802.23 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1802.23. "Clear and prominent notice" means notice presented in an understandable language and syntax, in the predominantly used language for that communication, and that: (a) In textual communications, the required disclosures are of a type, size, and location sufficiently noticeable for an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend in print that contrasts highly with the background on which they appear. (b) In communications disseminated orally or through audible means, the required disclosures are delivered in a volume and cadence sufficient for an ordinary consumer to hear and comprehend. (c) In communications disseminated through video means, the required disclosures are in writing in a form consistent with subdivision (a) of this definition and appear on the screen for a duration sufficient for an ordinary consumer to read and comprehend them, and in the same language as the predominantly used language for that communication. (d) In communications made through interactive media, including the Internet, online services, and software, the required disclosures are unavoidable and presented in a form consistent with subdivision (a), in addition to any audio or video presentation. SEC. 3. Section 1802.24 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1802.24. "Geophysical location tracking technology" means hardware, software, or an application that collects and reports data or information that identifies the precise geophysical location of an item, including, technologies that report the GPS coordinates of a computer or other item, the WiFi signals available to or actually used by a computer to access the Internet, the telecommunication towers or connections available to or actually used by a computer, the processing of any reported data or information through geolocation lookup services, or any information derived from any combination of the foregoing. SEC. 4. Section 1802.25 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1802.25. "Monitoring technology" means any hardware, software, or application utilized in conjunction with a computer that can cause the computer to capture, monitor, record, or report information about user activities by recording keystrokes, clicks, or other user-generated actions, capturing screenshots of the information displayed on a computer monitor or screen, or activating the camera or microphone function of a computer to take photographs or record audio or visual content through the computer's Internet Webcam or microphone. SEC. 5. Section 1803.12 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1803.12. It shall be unlawful for a seller to fail to provide clear and prominent notice to a buyer and obtain express consent from the buyer at the time of sale of an electronic device if that device has monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking technology installed or to install monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking technology on an electronic device without first providing clear and prominent notice to the buyer and obtaining express consent. SEC. 6. Section 1803.13 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1803.13. It shall be unlawful for a seller to use monitoring technology or geophysical location tracking technology on an electronic device for any purpose other than the prevention of fraud. SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.