Bill Text: CA AB1132 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1132 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Telecommunications: caller identification fraud.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 452, Statutes of 2019. [AB1132 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1132-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1132

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel

February 21, 2019

An act to ~~amend Section 1798.18 of the Civil Code, relating to state government.~~ add Section 2893.2 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1132, as amended, Gabriel. ~~The Information Practices Act of 1977.~~ Telecommunications: caller identification fraud.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law, with specified exceptions, directs the commission to require any call identification service offered by a telephone corporation, or by any other person or corporation that makes use of the facilities of a telephone corporation, to allow the caller to withhold, on an individual basis, the display of the caller’s telephone number from the telephone instrument of the individual receiving the call. However, existing law prohibits a caller from withholding the display of the caller’s business telephone number when that number is being used for telemarketing purposes.
Existing federal law, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, with certain exceptions, makes it unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or internet protocol enabled voice service, to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.
This bill would prohibit a caller from entering, or causing to be entered, false government information into a caller identification system with the intent to mislead, cause harm, deceive, or defraud the recipient of the call. The bill would prohibit a person or entity from making a call knowing that false government information was entered into the caller identification system with the intent to mislead, cause harm, deceive, or defraud the recipient of the call. The bill would make the violation of these prohibitions subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation. The bill would authorize a city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the bill’s prohibitions and, if in investigating a complaint over the unlawful use of an automatic dialing announcing device the commission determines that a violation of these prohibitions may have occurred, the bill would require the commission to give notice of the potential violation to the district attorney for the county in which the call was received and to the Attorney General. The bill would provide that its requirements and remedies are in addition to any other applicable law prohibiting the same or similar activity.
Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, requires specified state agencies to maintain in their records only personal information that is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency and to collect personal information to the greatest extent practicable directly from the individual who is the subject of the information. Existing law requires these state agencies to maintain all records, to the maximum extent possible, with accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness if those records are used to make any determination about an individual. Existing law requires a state agency, subject to these provisions, that transfers a record outside of state government to correct, update, withhold, or delete any portion of the record that it knows or has reason to believe is inaccurate or untimely.
~~This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Section 2893.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

2893.2.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Call” means the initiation of telecommunications service by accessing a number issued pursuant to the North American Numbering Plan, irrespective of the whether the call is initiated using a traditional landline over the public switched telephone network, using mobile telephony service, or using interconnected VoIP service network.
(2) “Caller” means a person or entity who places a call.
(3) “Caller identification information,” “caller identification service,” “information regarding the origination,” and “interconnected VoIP Service” have the same meanings as defined in Section 64.1600 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations as of January 1, 2019.
(4) “Enter” means to input data by whatever means into a computer or telephone system.
(5) “False government information” means caller identification information that misrepresents the identity of the caller to the recipient of a call, or to the network itself, by presenting information regarding the origination of the call as being from a federal, state, or local government.
(6) “Local government” means any city, city and county, county, public district, public corporation, authority, agency, board, commission, or other public entity.
(7) “Phone number” means an access number issued pursuant to the North American Numbering Plan.
(8) “Telecommunications”and “telecommunications service” have the same meanings as defined in Section 153 of Title 47 of the United States Code as of January 1, 2019.
(b) (1) A caller shall not enter, or cause to be entered, false government information into a caller identification system with the intent to mislead, cause harm, deceive, or defraud the recipient of the call.
(2) A person or entity may not make a call knowing that false government information was entered into the caller identification system with the intent to mislead, cause harm, deceive, or defraud the recipient of the call.
(c) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) The blocking of caller identification information.
(2) Any law enforcement agency of the federal government or a state or local government.
(3) Any intelligence or security agency of the federal government.
(4) A telecommunications, broadband, or interconnected VoIP service provider that is acting solely as an intermediary for the transmission of telecommunications service between the caller and the recipient.
(d) (1) Any person or entity who knowingly violates this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation.
(2) An action to enforce this section may be brought by a city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General.
(3) If during the investigation of a complaint for possible violation of Article 1 (commencing with Section 2871), the commission determines that a violation of this section may have occurred, the commission shall notify both the district attorney of the county where the call was received and the Attorney General of the potential violation.
(4) This section shall apply in addition to any other applicable law prohibiting the same or similar activity.

SECTION 1.Section 1798.18 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1798.18.
~~(a)An agency shall maintain all records, to the maximum extent possible, with accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness if those records are used to make any determination about an individual.~~
(b)If an agency transfers a record outside of state government, it shall correct, update, withhold, or delete any portion of the record that it knows, or has reason to believe, is inaccurate or untimely.