Amended  IN  Assembly  May 20, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 523

Introduced by Assembly Member Irwin

February 13, 2019

An act to amend Section 2891 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 523, as amended, Irwin. Telecommunications: customer right of privacy.
Existing federal law, as implemented by the Federal Communications Commission, authorizes telecommunications carriers to use customer proprietary network information, as defined, and other customer information for certain purposes, subject to specified restrictions and requirements.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law prescribes the circumstances under which telephone and telegraph corporations may release specified information regarding residential subscribers without their written consent.
This bill would prescribe the circumstances under which telephone and telegraph corporations may release specified information, including customer proprietary network information, regarding noncommercial subscribers without their written consent. The bill would specifically include geolocation information, as defined, in the information that may only be released with a noncommercial subscriber’s written consent. apply these written consent requirements for releasing information to noncommercial rather than residential subscribers. The bill would expand the information to which the restrictions on release apply, to include geolocation information and other customer proprietary network information. The bill would add specified telephony service and subpoena-related exceptions to these written consent requirements. The bill would permit a telephone corporation to share customer proprietary network information of a mobile telephony services subscriber with its agents and affiliates that provide communications-related services for the purpose of marketing communications-related services to that subscriber if the telephone corporation obtains the written consent of the subscriber or if the telephone corporation does not receive an objection pursuant to a specified federal opt-out approval mechanism.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 2891 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:

2891.
 (a) No A telephone or telegraph corporation shall not make available to any other person or corporation, without first obtaining the a noncommercial subscriber’s written consent, CPNI of the noncommercial subscriber or any of the following information that is not included in CPNI: information:
(1) The customer proprietary network information of the noncommercial subscriber, which includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1)

(A) The noncommercial subscriber’s personal calling patterns, including any listing of the telephone or other access numbers called by the noncommercial subscriber, but excluding the identification to the person called of the person calling and the telephone number from which the call was placed, subject to the restrictions in Section 2893, and also excluding billing information concerning the person calling that federal law or regulation requires a telephone corporation to provide to the person called.

(2)The noncommercial subscriber’s credit or other personal financial information, except when the corporation is ordered by the commission to provide this information to any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, telegraph, or water corporation, or centralized credit check system, for the purpose of determining the creditworthiness of new utility subscribers.

(3)

(B) The noncommercial services that the subscriber purchases from the corporation or from independent suppliers of information services who use the corporation’s telephone or telegraph line to provide service to the noncommercial subscriber.

(4)

(C) Demographic information about individual noncommercial subscribers, or aggregate information from which individual identities and characteristics have not been removed.

(5)

(D) The geolocation information of the noncommercial subscriber.
(2) The noncommercial subscriber’s credit or other personal financial information, except when the corporation is ordered by the commission to provide this information to any electrical, gas, heat, telephone, telegraph, or water corporation, or centralized credit check system, for the purpose of determining the creditworthiness of new utility subscribers.
(b) Any noncommercial subscriber who gives written consent for the release of one or more of the categories of personal information specified in subdivision (a) shall be informed by the telephone or telegraph corporation regarding the identity of each person or corporation to whom the information has been released, upon written request. The corporation shall notify every noncommercial subscriber of the provisions of this subdivision whenever consent is requested pursuant to this subdivision.
(c) Any noncommercial subscriber who has, pursuant to subdivision (b), given written consent for the release of one or more of the categories of personal information specified in subdivision (a) may rescind this consent upon submission of a written notice to the telephone or telegraph corporation. The corporation shall cease to make available any personal information about the subscriber within 30 days following receipt of notice given pursuant to this subdivision.
(d) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Information provided by noncommercial subscribers for inclusion in the corporation’s directory of subscribers.
(2) Information customarily provided by the corporation through directory assistance services.
(3) Postal ZIP Code information.
(4) Information provided under supervision of the commission to a collection agency by the telephone corporation exclusively for the collection of unpaid debts.
(5) Information provided to an emergency service agency responding to a 911 telephone call or any other call communicating an imminent threat to life or property.
(6) Information provided to a law enforcement agency in response to lawful process.
(7) Information that is required by the commission pursuant to its jurisdiction and control over telephone and telegraph corporations.
(8) Information transmitted between telephone or telegraph corporations pursuant to the furnishing of telephone service between or within service areas.
(9) Information required to be provided by the corporation pursuant to rules and orders of the commission or the Federal Communications Commission regarding the provision over telephone lines by parties other than the telephone and telegraph corporations of telephone or information services.
(10) The name and address of the lifeline customers of a telephone corporation provided by that telephone corporation to a public utility for the sole purpose of low-income ratepayer assistance outreach efforts. The telephone corporation receiving the information request pursuant to this paragraph may charge the requesting utility for the cost of the search and release of the requested information.
(11) Information provided in response to a request pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 530.8 of the Penal Code.
(12) Information required to deliver mobile telephony service to the noncommercial subscriber.
(13) Information required during a customer-initiated transaction to effectuate a change in the mobile telephony service of the noncommercial individual subscriber.
(14) Information provided by a telephone corporation in response to a subpoena by a local government for an audit or inspection of the telephone corporation’s records for the collection of a tax, fee, or other charge by the local government.
(e) Subject to obtaining the express written consent or federal opt-out approval of the subscriber, a telephone corporation may share CPNI customer proprietary network information of a mobile telephony services subscriber with its agents and affiliates that provide communications-related services for the purpose of marketing communications-related services to that subscriber.
(f) Every violation of this section is a grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved noncommercial subscriber against the telephone or telegraph corporation and its employees responsible for the violation.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Access number” means a telex, teletex, facsimile, computer modem, or any other code which is used by a noncommercial subscriber of a telephone or telegraph corporation to direct a communication to another subscriber of the same or another telephone or telegraph corporation.
(2) “Affiliate” has the same meaning as defined in Section 153 of Title 47 of the United States Code.
(3) “Communications-related services” has the same meaning as defined in Section 64.2003(e) of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4) “CPNI” “Customer proprietary network information” means customer proprietary network information as defined in Section 222(h)(1) of Title 47 of the United States Code and as interpreted by the Federal Communications Commission, including in Declaratory Ruling 13-89 (June 27, 2013), In the Matter of Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Telecommunications Carriers’ Use of Customer Proprietary Network Information and Other Customer Information, CC Docket No. 96-155.
(5) “Federal opt-out approval” means the “opt-out approval” method for obtaining customer consent to use, disclose, or permit access to the customer’s CPNI customer proprietary network information adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in Subpart U (commencing with Section 64.2001) of Part 64 of Subchapter B of Chapter I of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(6) “Geolocation” means information related to the physical or geographical location of a noncommercial subscriber or the noncommercial subscriber’s mobile communications device, regardless of the particular technological method used to obtain this information.