Bill Text: CA SB242 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Social networking Internet Web sites: privacy: minors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-06-02 - Read third time. Refused passage. (Ayes 19. Noes 17. Page 1285.) [SB242 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB242-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 242 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 2, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett
FEBRUARY 9, 2011
An act to add Part 2.7 (commencing with Section 60) to Division 1
of the Civil Code, relating to privacy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 242, as amended, Corbett. Social networking Internet Web sites:
privacy: minors.
Existing law requires an operator of a commercial Internet Web
site or online service that collects personally identifiable
information through the Internet about individual consumers residing
in California who use or visit its site or online service to
conspicuously post its privacy policy on its Internet Web site.
Existing law also prescribes various prohibitions with regard to
disclosures of personal information related to, among other things,
driver's licenses, social security numbers, and direct marketing.
This bill would prohibit a social networking Internet Web site, as
defined, from displaying to the public or other registered users any
information about a registered user of that Internet Web site, other
than the user's name and city of residence, without the express
agreement of the user. The bill would require a social networking
Internet Web site to establish a process for new users to set their
privacy settings as part of the registration process that explains
privacy options in plain language, and to make privacy settings
available in an easy-to-use format. The bill would require a social
networking Internet Web site to remove the personal identifying
information, as defined, of any registered user, and would require
removal of that information regarding a user under 18 years of age
upon request by the user's parent, within 48
96 hours upon his or her request. This bill would impose a
civil penalty, not to exceed $10,000, for each willful and knowing
violation of these provisions.
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. Part 2.7 (commencing with Section 60) is added to
Division 1 of the Civil Code, to read:
PART 2.7. SOCIAL NETWORKING PRIVACY ACT
60. (a) A social networking Internet Web site shall establish a
default privacy setting for registered users of the site that
prohibits the display, to the public or other registered users, of
any information about a registered user, other than the user's name
and city of residence, without the express agreement of the user.
(b) A social networking Internet Web site shall establish a
process for new users to set their privacy settings as part of the
registration process that explains privacy options in plain language.
The Internet Web site shall not complete the process of registering
a new user until privacy settings are selected by the user. The
Internet Web site shall make privacy settings available to all users
of the Internet Web site in a conspicuous place and an easy-to-use
format that allows the user to adjust his or her privacy setting.
(c) (1) A social networking Internet Web site shall remove the
personal identifying information of a registered user in a timely
manner upon his or her request. In the case of a registered user who
identifies himself or herself as being under 18 years of age, the
social networking Internet Web site shall also remove the information
upon the request of a parent of the registered user.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 62, for purposes of
this subdivision, "personal identifying information" shall not
include a person's name.
(d) A request submitted by a registered user pursuant to
subdivision (c) shall include sufficient information to verify the
identity of the user and shall specify any known location of the
information that is the subject of the request.
62. For purposes of this part:
(a) "In a timely manner" means within 48
96 hours of delivery of the request.
(b) "Personal identifying information" means a person's name,
address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security
number, place of employment, employee
identification number, mother's maiden name, demand deposit account
number, savings account number, or credit card number. "Personal
identifying information" also means information about a person's
current location, including global positioning system coordinates, in
different types of media, including photographs and videos,
transmitted to, or over, the Internet.
(c) "Plain language" means a clear explanation, written in easy to
understand terms that achieves a minimum Flesch Reading Ease score
of 70, as that calculation is described in paragraph (7) of
subdivision (a) of Section 2689.4 of Title 10 of the California Code
of Regulations, in effect on March 24, 2003, regarding the people and
entities that will be able to view the information, to allow those
persons or entities to view his or her information.
(d) "Privacy setting" means the ability of the user to restrict
information about himself or herself that is available from the
Internet Web site.
(e) "Registered user" means any person who has created an account
for purposes of accessing a social networking Internet Web site.
(f) "Social networking Internet Web site" means an Internet
Web-based service that allows an individual to construct a public or
partly public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of
other users with whom the individual shares a connection, and view
and traverse his or her list of connections and those made by others
in the system.
65. A social networking Internet Web site that willfully and
knowingly violates any provision of this part shall be liable for a
civil penalty, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each
violation of this part.
