So all these companies making money off your personal information, do you receive a check?

 

The state of California is the furthest along in establishing privacy laws for its people. This includes medical privacy, internet privacy, as well as laws that restrict businesses, medical facilities, the internet from using your personal information to make money for themselves. After all, do you receive a check from the profits they make off of you?

 

California Law – Constitutional Right to Privacy

• California Constitution, Article 1, section 1.The state Constitution gives each citizen an “inalienable right” to pursue and obtain “privacy.

California Privacy Rights Include:

Public Record Exemption for Sex Offense Victims – California Government Code section 6254 and California Penal Code section 293. These laws prohibit the disclosure of the names and addresses of victims of specific sex-related crimes in documents provided in response to requests for records, including responses provided under the California Public Records Act.
Domestic Violence Victim Privacy – California Civil Code section 1798.79.8 This law prohibits a domestic violence victim service provider from being required to reveal the personally identifying information of its clients or potential clients as a part of applying for or receiving grants or financial assistance for its services. It defines “victim service provider” to mean a non-governmental organization that provides shelter or services to victims of domestic violence.

Medical Information, Collection for Direct Marketing Purposes – California Civil Code section1798.91. This law prohibits a business from seeking to obtain medical information from an individual for direct marketing purposes without, (1) clearly disclosing how the information will be used and shared, and (2) getting the individual’s consent.

Medical Information Confidentiality – California Civil Code sections 56-56.37.This law puts limits on the disclosure of patients’ medical information by medical providers, health plans, pharmaceutical companies, and many businesses organized for the purpose of maintaining medical information. It specifically prohibits many types of marketing uses and disclosures. It requires an electronic health or medical record system to protect the integrity of electronic medical information and to automatically record and preserve any change or deletion.

Court Records: Protection of Victim and Witness Information – California Penal Code section 964.This law requires the district attorney and the courts in each county to establish a procedure to protect confidential personal information regarding any witness or victim contained in a police report, arrest report, or investigative report submitted to a court by a prosecutor in support of a criminal complaint, indictment, or information, or by a prosecutor or law enforcement officer in support of a search warrant or an arrest warrant.

The state of Virginia has no procedure in place to protect an individual’s privacy regarding public court records.  Instead of protecting victim/witness information, Virginia has the opposite law –>  Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

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Disposal of Customer Records – California Civil Code sections 1798.80 – 1798.81 and 1798.84.These sections require businesses to shred, erase or otherwise modify the personal information when disposing of customer records under their control. It provides a “safe harbor” from civil litigation for a business 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.

Electronic Eavesdropping – California Penal Code sections 630-638. Among other things, this law prohibits, with exceptions, electronic eavesdropping on or recording of private communications by telephone, radio telephone, cellular radio telephone, cable or any other device or in any other manner.  It prohibits cable TV and satellite TV operators from monitoring or recording conversations in a subscriber’s residence, or from sharing individually identifiable information on subscriber viewing habits or other personal information without written consent (section 637.5).

Electronic Surveillance in Rental Cars – California Civil Code section 1936. This law prohibits vehicle rental companies from using, accessing, or obtaining information relating to a renter’s use of a rental vehicle obtained using onboard electronic surveillance technology, except in limited circumstances. It requires rental companies to obtain a renter’s consent before using or disclosing information about the renter’s use of the vehicle.

Employment of Offenders – California Penal Code section 4017.1 and Penal Code section 5071 and California Welfare and Institutions Code section 219.5. Prison and county jail inmates may not have jobs that give them access to personal information. The same prohibitions apply to offenders performing community service in lieu of a fine or custody.

Identification Devices, Prohibition on Bodily Implanting – California Civil Code section 52.7.This law prohibits a person from requiring, coercing, or compelling any other individual to undergo the subcutaneous implanting of an identification device. The law specifically requires that it be liberally construed to protect privacy and bodily integrity. The law also provides for the assessment of civil penalties for violation, as specified, and allows an aggrieved party to bring an action for damages and injunctive relief, subject to a 3-year statute of limitation, or as otherwise provided.

 

Just Say ERA.

President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union Address Tuesday January 12, 2016–three years and a day after the launch of the successful White House ERA Petition. Yet, despite nearly three years of waiting–the Grassroots ERA Advocates who worked tirelessly to meet the then 25,000 signature threshold in the 30 days required to trigger an official response from the Obama Administration have not heard President Obama say ERA even once! (33,107 signers from across the country and around the world added their names before the petition closed on August 12, 2013.) Sex discrimination is NOT outlawed in the U.S. Constitution. This is an outrage and it’s time President Obama addresses this injustice directly. The absence of this protection is at epidemic proportion across the country and is getting noticed by our world wide neighbors. Click here to read the 2015 United Nations working group report. The group of human rights experts found the condition of U.S. women deplorable and recommends the United States ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and hold true to the commitment made in 2010 and 2015 to ratify CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). Please Join us in Calling on President Obama to Lead on ratifying the ERA. CLICK Here to Join our Thunderclap: Obama #JustSayERA #SOTU2016 Call President Obama: 202-456-1111/ 202-456-1414 and send him an e-mail by Clicking Here. Tweet @POTUS Tell him U.S. Women and Girls need and deserve Constitutional protection IMMEDIATELY and that we expect our President to demonstrate a true commitment to the ERA  movement by declaring his support and vowing to do his part  in his final State of the Union Address. In Solidarity, Tammy and Cathy Co-directors, ERA Action