Summary of Privacy Rights

31. rotections.
32. 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.
33. Reader Privacy Act – California Civil Code sections Title 1.81.15 (commencing with section1798.90). This law protects the privacy of individuals who use the services of businesses that rent, sell, lend or otherwise offer books to the public. It requires a court order or the user’s affirmative consent before such a business can disclose the personal information of its users related to their use of a book, with specified exceptions, including an imminent danger of death or serious injury.
34. Research Use of Personal Information – California Civil Code section 1798.24 and Welfare and Institutions Code section 10850. This law authorizes a state agency to disclose personal information for certain research purposes to the University of California or a nonprofit educational institution, but requires the agency to get the approval of the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects for the California Health and Human Services Agency before disclosing the information. It also establishes criteria for the review and approval of the request.
35. Security Breach Notice – California Civil Code sections 1798.29, 1798.82, and 1798.84. This law requires a business, State agency or a local government agency that maintains unencrypted computerized data that includes personal information, as defined, to notify any California resident whose unencrypted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person. The type of information that triggers the notice requirement is an individual’s name plus one or more of the following: Social Security number, driver’s license or California Identification Card number, financial account numbers, medical information or health insurance information; or user ID and password or other specified credentials permitting access to online accounts. The notice must contain specific information, and any agency, person, or business that is required to issue a breach notice to more than 500 California residents must electronically submit a single sample copy to the Attorney General. See the Recommended Practices in relation to this law.
36. Security of Personal Information – California Civil Code section 1798.81.5. This law requires specified businesses to use safeguards to ensure the security of Californians’ personal information (defined as name plus SSN, driver’s license/state ID, financial account number) and to contractually require third parties to do the same. It does not apply to businesses that are subject to certain other information security laws.
37. Social Security Number Confidentiality – California Civil Code sections 1798.85 and 1798.86, 1785.11.1, and 1785.11.6. This law restricts businesses and state and local agencies from publicly posting or displaying Social Security numbers. It also bans embedding SSNs on a card or document using a bar code, chip, magnetic strip or other technology, in place of removing the number as required by law. The law takes effect gradually, from 2002 through 2007. See the Recommended Practices in relation to this law.
38. Social Security Number Confidentiality in Family Court Records – California Family Code section 2024.5. This law establishes a procedure for keeping SSNs confidential in court filings for legal separation, dissolution, or nullification of marriage.
39. Social Security Number Truncation on Pay Stubs – California Labor Code section 226. This law requires employers to print no more than the last four digits of an employee’s SSN, or to use an employee ID number other than the SSN, on employee pay stubs or itemized statements. Employers must comply by January 1, 2008.
40. Social Security Numbers in Abstracts of Judgments, Decrees, and Tax Liens – Code of Civil Procedure section 674 and California Revenue & Taxation Code section 2191.3. These laws delete the former provisions requiring that abstracts of judgments, decrees requiring the payment of money, and tax collector liens contain the full SSN of the judgment debtor or assessee. Instead, such documents may contain only the last four digits of the SSN.
41. Social Security Numbers in Local Government Records and Higher Education – California Civil Code section 1798.89, Commercial Code section 9526.5, Education Code section 66018.55, and Government Code section 27300 et seq. These laws require certain state and local government agencies to truncate SSNs in documents released to the public so as to display no more than the last four digits. (1) The Franchise Tax Board must truncate SSNs in documents released to the public. (2) The Secretary of State must create versions of Uniform Commercial Code filings that contain only truncated SSNs. (3) County recorders must create versions of documents recorded back to 1980 that contain only truncated SSNs, and if authorized by boards of supervisors may levy a fee to cover the cost of truncation. Also no one may record a document containing more than the last four digits of an SSN. (4) The law states the Legislature’s intent that local agencies, other than county recorders, fully redact SSNs from public records before making the records publicly available, and excludes SSNs from the information that a local agency must disclose under the Public Records Act. (5) It requires the Office of Privacy Protection to create a task force to review the use of SSNs by California colleges and universities and to recommend practices to minimize such use, with a report due to the Legislature by July 1, 2010.
42. State Agency Privacy Policies – California Government Code section 11019.9. This law requires state agencies to enact and to maintain a privacy policy and to designate an employee to be responsible for the policy. The policy must describe the agency’s practices for handling personal information, as further required in the Information Practices Act.
43. Supermarket Club Card Act – California Civil Code section 1749.60 and following. This law prohibits supermarket club card issuers (1) from requesting driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers, and (2) from selling or sharing personal customer information; limited exemption for membership card stores.
44. Telecommunications Customer Privacy – California Public Utilities Code sections 2891-2894.10. This law bars telecommunications companies from disclosing the calling patterns, personal financial information or other specified personal information of residential subscribers without first getting written consent of the subscriber. There are some exceptions, including disclosure for the purpose of debt collection, for responding to a 911 call, and as required by legal process. It also requires, among other things, that telephone companies must give annual notice to subscribers that calling an 800 or 900 number may result in the disclosure of the subscriber’s telephone number to the called party.
45. Telephone Record “Pretexting” – California Penal Code section 638 This law prohibits the purchase or sale of any telephone calling pattern record or list without the written consent of the subscriber.
46. Veterans’ Discharge Papers, Notice of Public Record Status – California Government Code section 27337. This law addresses the risk of identity theft created when military veterans file their DD214s, which contain their SSN, with their county recorders. It requires the recorders to give such a veteran a written form indicating that the document becomes public when it is recorded.
47. Voter Privacy – California Elections Code sections 2194, 8105, 8202, 8204, 2166.7 and 8023, and California Government Code 6254.24 If authorized by a local board of supervisors, a local election official must make the voter registration information of specified public safety officials confidential, upon application. The application of a public safety official for confidentiality would be a public record. The law also includes a voter’s signature on a voter registration card as part of confidential voter registration information and adds state and federal judges and court commissioners to the definition of public safety officials entitled to remove their home addresses and telephone numbers from public posting on the Internet.
48. Warranty cards – California Civil Code section 1793.1. Product warranty cards must clearly state that the consumer is not required to return the card for the warranty to take effect.
49. Wireless Network Security – California Business and Professions Code sections 22948.5-22948.7 This law requires devices that include an integrated and enabled wireless access point that are manufactured on or after October 1, 2007, to include a warning that advises consumers about how to protect their personal information and mitigate unauthorized use of their Internet access, and provide other specified protection measures.
50. Workplace Surveillance – California Labor Code section 435. This law prohibits employers from recording an employee in a restroom or room designated for changing clothes, unless authorized by court order, subject to certain exceptions.

1. Health Information Privacy
   1. Birth and Death Certificate Access – California Health and Safety Code sections 103525, 103525.5,103526, 103526.5, 103527, and 103528. Authorization is required to obtain certified copies of the birth or death certificate of another person. State and local registrars that issue non-certified copies to non-authorized applicants must print the words “informational, not a valid document to establish identity” on the copies issued.
   2. Birth and Death Record Indices – California Health and Safety Code sections 102230, 102231, and102232. This law exempts specified compilations of birth and death records, called indices, from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. The State Registrar is required to establish separate non-comprehensive indices for public release, which do not contain Social Security numbers or mother’s maiden names. Requesters of the indices must provide proof of identity and sign a form certifying, under penalty of perjury, that they will comply with prescribed usage guidelines.
   3. Health Facilities Data Breach – California Health & Safety Code section 1280.15. This law requires certain health facilities to prevent unlawful or unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, a patient’s medical information. It sets fines and notification requirements for breaches of patient medical information and requires facilities to report such breaches to the California Department of Public Health.
   4. Legal and Civil Rights of Persons Involuntarily Detained – California Welfare & Institutions Code section 5328. This law provides for the confidentiality of the records of people who are voluntarily or involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation or treatment.
   5. Medical Information, Collection for Direct Marketing Purposes – California Civil Code section 1798.91. 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.
   6. 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.

Chapter 1. Definitions

56-56.07

Chapter 2. Disclosure of Medical Information by Providers

56.10-56.16

Chapter 2.5. Disclosure of Genetic Test Results By a Health Care Service Plan

56.17

Chapter 3. Use and Disclosure of Medical Information by Employers

56.20-56.245

Chapter 4. Relationship of Chapters 2 and 3

56.25

Chapter 5. Use and Disclosure of Medical and Other Information by Third Party Administrators and Others

56.26-56.265

Chapter 6. Relationship to Existing Law

56.27-56.31

Chapter 7. Violations

56.35-56.37

7. Mandated Blood Testing and Confidentiality to Protect Public Health – California Health & Safety Code sections 120975-121020. This law protects the privacy of individuals who are the subject of blood testing for antibodies to the probable causative agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
8. Office of Health Information Integrity – California Health and Safety Code sections 130200. This law established the Office of Health Information Integrity in the California Health and Human Services Agency, with the mission of ensuring enforcement of state law on the confidentiality of medical information.
9. Patient Access to Health Records – California Health & Safety Code section 123110 and following. With minor limitations, this law gives patients the right to see and copy information maintained by health care providers relating to the patients’ health conditions. The law also gives patients the right to submit amendments to their records, if the patients believe that the records are inaccurate or incomplete.

1. California Identity theft law
   1. Jurisdiction for Identity Theft Cases – California Penal Code section 786. Jurisdiction for a criminal action concerning identity theft may be in either the county where the theft occurred, the county where the information was illegally used, or the county in which the victim resided at the time. If multiple identity theft offenses occur in multiple jurisdictions involving the same defendant(s) and the same or substantially similar scheme, then jurisdiction for all offenses is proper in any one of the counties where an offense occurred.
   2. Criminal Profiteering and Identity Theft – California Penal Code section 186.2. This law adds the theft of personal identifying information to the offenses specified as criminal profiteering activity and patterns of criminal profiteering activity.
   3. Debt Collection: Business Identity Theft Victim Rights – California Civil Code sections 1788.2 and 1788.18. This law provides a firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, company, corporation, or limited liability company with the same rights as an individual to contest any debt that has resulted from identity theft.
   4. Debt Collection: Identity Theft Victim Rights – California Civil Code section 1788.18. This law is intended to help identity theft victims deal with debt collectors who are trying to collect debts incurred by the thief. It requires a debt collector to stop collection when an alleged debtor furnishes a police report of identity theft and other information on his status as an identity theft victim. If a collector ultimately determines that the information fails to establish that the consumer is not responsible for the debt, the collector has to notify the consumer of that determination and its basis before proceeding with collection. The bill also helps identity theft victims clear up their records by requiring debt collectors who cease collection activities to notify the creditors and consumer credit reporting agencies to which the collector previously provided adverse information.
   5. Document Making Devices and Identity Theft – California Penal Code section 483.5. This law prohibits the possession of document-making devices with intent to use them to manufacture, alter, or authenticate a deceptive identification document. Conviction is punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
   6. Financial Crime Surveillance Photos and Video – California Government Code section 7480. This law provides that a law enforcement agency may request, and a bank, credit union, or savings association must then provide, surveillance photographs and video recordings of a person accessing a crime victim’s financial account via an ATM or from within the financial institution, as specified.
   7. Foster Youth Identity Theft – California Welfare and Institutions Code section 10618.6. This law requires county welfare departments to check for credit files of foster youth as specified and to make arrangements for remediating any indications of identity theft in the files.
   8. High Technology Theft Apprehension and Prosecution Program – California Penal Code sections 13848-13848.4. This law establishes the High Technology Theft Apprehension and Prosecution Program funds five regional Identity Theft Units and five High Technology Regional Crimes Task Forces. Each regional unit is comprised of local law enforcement and prosecutors from at least two counties and includes at least one state law enforcement agency investigator, as well as federal investigators and prosecutors. The law also establishes the High Technology Crime Advisory Committee, composed of members representing various governmental agencies and professional organizations, for the purpose of advising on the High Technology Theft Apprehension and Prosecution Program Trust Fund to regional task forces.
   9. Identity Theft Crime Statistics – California Penal Code section 13012.6 This law requires the Department of Justice to include information on arrests for identity theft crimes in the annual report on criminal statistics provided to the Governor.
   10. Identity Theft Jurisdiction – California Penal Code section 786. This law provides that the jurisdiction of a criminal action for identity theft, as defined in Penal Code section 530.55, includes the county where the theft of the information occurred, the county in which the victim resided, and the county where the information was used for an illegal purpose.
   11. Identity Theft: Victim Access to Records on Fraudulent Transactions or Accounts – California Civil Code section 1748.95, Financial Code sections 4002 and 22470. Similar to California Penal Code section 530.8, these laws require certain types of financial institutions and other businesses to release (to a victim with a police report or to the victim’s law enforcement representative) information and evidence related to identity theft. See the similar provisions in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, section 609(e).*
   12. Identity Theft – California Penal Code sections 530.5-530.8. These code sections define the specific crime of identity theft, require the law enforcement agency in the victim’s area to take a police report, allow a victim to get an expedited judicial ruling of factual innocence, require the Department of Justice to establish a database of identity theft victims accessible by law enforcement and victims, and require financial institutions to release information and evidence related to identity theft to a victim with a police report or to the victim’s law enforcement representative. The sections establish penalties for the crime, including enhanced penalties for several groups 1) those with previous identity theft convictions, 2) those acquiring or possession personal information of 10 or more people, and 3) those who sell or otherwise convey personal information with knowledge that it will be used to commit identity theft.
   13. Identity Theft Conspiracy/DMV – California Penal Code sections 182 and 529.7. Courts can impose fines of up to $25,000 on individuals convicted of felony conspiracy to commit ID theft. This law also makes it a misdemeanor for any unauthorized person to obtain (or assist another person in obtaining) a driver’s license, identification card, vehicle registration certificate, or other official document issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, with the knowledge that the person obtaining the document is not entitled to it.
   14. Identity Theft: Records in “Criminal” Identity Theft – California Penal Code sections 853.5-853.6, California Vehicle code sections 40303, 40305, 40305.5, 40500 and 40504. This law helps victims clear their records when an identity thief is arrested using the victim’s name. It establishes a procedure for a victim to contest a charge by submitting a thumbprint for comparison with the thumbprint taken at the time of arrest.
   15. Identity Theft, Restitution – California Penal Code section 1202.4. This law authorizes courts to award restitution for expenses of monitoring an identity theft victim’s credit report and for the costs to repair the victim’s credit for a period of time reasonably necessary to make the victim whole, as specified.
   16. Identity Theft Victim’s Rights Against Claimants – California Civil Code section 1798.92-1798.97. This law protects identity theft victims who are being pursued for collection of debts, which have been created by identity thieves. The law gives identity theft victims the right to bring an action against a claimant who is seeking payment on a debt NOT owed by the identity theft victim. The identity theft victim may seek an injunction against the claimant, plus actual damages, costs, a civil penalty, and other relief.
   17. Search Warrant – California Penal Code section 1524. This law helps law enforcement in investigating identity theft cases by permitting a magistrate in the victim’s county of residence to issue a search warrant for persons or property located in another county when the warrant is related to the identity theft.
   18. Statute of Limitations – California Penal Code section 803. This bill gives victims, law enforcement, and prosecutors a reasonable opportunity to discover and investigate the crime of identity theft by specifying that the statute of limitations for the crime (and publicly filing a false or forged document) commences when the crime was discovered, instead of when it was committed.
   19. Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 – California Business and Professions Code sections 22948-22948.3. This law prohibits “phishing,” the act of posing as a legitimate company or government agency in an email, Web page, or other Internet communication in order to trick a recipient into revealing his or her personal information.
   20. Computer Spyware – California Business and Professions Code section 22947 and following. This law prohibits an unauthorized person from knowingly installing or providing software that performs certain functions, such as taking control of the computer or collecting personally identifiable information, on or to another user’s computer located in California.
   21. Cyber-bullying – California Education Code section 32261. This law defines bullying as one or more acts of sexual harassment, hate violence, or intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, committed by a pupil or group of pupils. Bullying, including bullying committed by means of an electronic act, as defined, including a post on a social network Internet Web site, is a ground on which suspension or expulsion may be based.
   22. Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 – California Business and Professions Code sections 22575-22579. This law requires operators of commercial web sites or online services that collect personal information on California residents through a web site to conspicuously post a privacy policy on the site and to comply with its policy. The privacy policy must, among other things, identify the categories of personally identifiable information collected about site visitors and the categories of third parties with whom the operator may share the information. The privacy policy must also provide information on the operator’s online tracking practices. An operator is in violation for failure to post a policy within 30 days of being notified of noncompliance, or if the operator either knowingly and willfully or negligently and materially fails to comply with the provisions of its policy. This law takes effect July 1, 2004.
   23. Personal Information Collected on Internet – California Government Code section 11015.5. This law applies to state government agencies. When collecting personal information electronically, agencies must provide certain notices. Before sharing an individual’s information with third parties, agencies must obtain the individual’s written consent.
   24. Public Officials, Online Privacy – California Government Code 6254.21. This law prohibits posting or displaying on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official, as defined, if the official has made a written demand not to disclose his or her information. Entities receiving such a demand must remove the information immediately and ensure that it is not reposted.
   25. Reproductive Health Care, Online Privacy – California Government Code section 6218 and following. This law protects the personal safety of reproductive health care providers, employees, volunteers, and patients by prohibiting the posting of any such person’s home address, phone number, or image on the Internet, under specified circumstances.
   26. Safe at Home Participants, Online Privacy – California Government Code sections 6206.5, 6206.7, 6208,6215.3, 6215.4, 6215.7, 6208.1, 6208.2, and 6218.01. This law provides participants in the Secretary of State’s confidential address program, Safe at Home (for victims of domestic violence or stalking and reproductive health care providers, employees, and volunteers) with the right to demand the removal if their personal information, including home address and phone number, from online search engines or databases, and imposes related obligations on the operators of such search engines and databases.
2. Unsolicited commercial communication
   1. Robocalls – Public Utilities Code sections 2871-2876 – This law requires calls made by automatic dialing announcing devices, or robocalls, to be introduced by a live person. There are certain exceptions, including emergency calls form police, fire or emergency service agencies. A fact sheet on what to do about such calls (“When are robocalls legal?”) is available from the California Public Utilities Commission at www.cpuc.ca.gov.
   2. Spam Laws – California Business and Professions Code Sections 17529 and following 17538.45. These laws regulate “spam,” unsolicited commercial e-mail. Section 17529.5 concerns unsolicited commercial e-mails with misleading or falsified headers or information, and includes penalties. It applies to e-mail sent to or from a California e-mail address. It authorizes the recipient, an e-mail service provider, or the Attorney General to bring an action for actual damages and liquidated damages of $1,000 per e-mail ad sent in violation, up to $1 million per incident. It also authorizes attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. Section 17538.45 gives an e-mail service provider the right to sue those who send spam from its network or to its subscribers. Service providers can get civil damages up to $25,000 per day plus attorney fees. See also the federal CAN-SPAM Act.
   3. Telemarketing: State do-not-call list – California Business and Professions Code sections 17590-17594. Californians can put their residential and cellular telephone numbers on a national do-not-call list. For program details, visit the Federal Trade Commissions web site at Do Not Call.
   4. Unsolicited Cell Phone/Pager Text Ads – California Business and Professions Code section 17538.41. This law prohibits the sending of unsolicited text advertisements to cell phones or pagers.
   5. Cellular Telephone Number Directory – California Public Utilities Code section 2891.1. This law requires a subscriber’s express permission before a cell phone service provider can list the subscriber’s number in a directory.
3. Federal General Privacy Law
   1. Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 – 18 U.S. Code 2721 and following. This federal law puts limits on disclosures of personal information in records maintained by State departments of motor vehicles.
   2. Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 – 18 U.S. Code sections 2510-2522, 2701-2711,3121,1367. This law amends the federal wiretap law to cover specific types of electronic communications, such as e-mail, radio-paging devices, cell phones, private communications carriers, and computer transmissions. It also extends the ban on interception to the communications of wire or electronic communication services and sets restrictions on access to stored wire and electronic communications and transaction records.
   3. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) – 20 U.S. Code section 1232g. This law restricts the disclosure of educational records maintained by educational agencies and institutions that receive federal funding.
   4. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – 15 U.S. Code sections 1681-1681u. This law is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of the credit bureaus that gather and sell information about consumers to creditors, employers, landlords and other businesses.
   5. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act – 15 U.S. Code sections 1692-1692p. The purpose of this is “to eliminate abusive debt collection practices by debt collectors, to insure that those debt collectors who refrain from using abusive debt collection practices are not competitively disadvantaged, and to promote consistent State action to protect consumers against debt collection abuses.” For more information, see the FTC Fair Debt Collection guide.
   6. Federal Privacy Act of 1974 – 5 U.S. Code section 552a. This law applies to the access to, and disclosure of, records of individuals held by federal executive and regulatory agencies. It requires such agencies, with some exemptions, to limit disclosure, provide access to the individual, and to apply basic Fair Information Practice Principles to such records containing the personal information of individual U.S. citizens and legal alien residents.
   7. Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB), Privacy Rule – 15 U.S. Code sections 6801-6809. The federal GLB law permits the consolidation of financial services companies and requires financial institutions to issue privacy notices to their customers that explain their information sharing practices and give customers the opportunity to opt-out of some sharing of personally identifiable financial information with outside companies. For more information, see http://business.ftc.gov/privacy-and-security/gramm-leach-bliley-act.
   8. Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 – 18 U.S.Code section 2710. This law was originally intended to limit the conditions under which a video rental or sales outlet may disclose personally identifiable information about consumers, including viewing history. Even though video tapes have been practically replaced by other technology, such as DVDs and streaming video, this law still applies to such “similar audio visual materials.”Consumers have the right to opt-out from disclosure of their name and address (e.g., in a mailing list), and can sue for actual and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs, if they are harmed by a violation of this law. This law was recently amended to enable sharing of viewing history, still with consumers’ written consent, on Internet sites such as Facebook and Netflix.
4. Federal Health Information Privacy
   1. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). – 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164, Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information and Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information. HIPAA includes provisions designed to save money for health care businesses by encouraging electronic transactions and also regulations to protect the security and confidentiality of patient information. The privacy rule took effect on April 14, 2001, with most covered entities (health plans, health care clearinghouse and health care providers who conduct certain financial and administrative transactions electronically) having until April 2003 to comply. The security rule took effect on April 21, 2003.
5. Federal Antitheft Laws
   1. Federal Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 – 18 U.S. Code section 1028. This law makes it a federal crime to produce or possess false or unauthorized identification documents, or to use another’s identity to commit an activity that violates Federal law or that is a felony under state or local law.
6. Federal Online Privacy Law
   1. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) – 15 U.S. Code section 6501 and following. The goal of COPPA is to place parents in control over what information is collected from their young children online. With limited exceptions, COPPA and the related FTC Rule require operators of commercial web sites and online services to provide notice and get verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. For more information, see the FTC’s COPPA Web site:http://business.ftc.gov/privacy-and-security/children’s-online-privacy.
   2. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984 – 18 U.S. Code section 1030. This law makes unauthorized access to “protected computers” illegal. Protected computers include U.S. government computers, computers used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication, and computers used by financial institutions. It also prohibits trafficking in computer passwords and damaging a protected computer.
   3. Computer Matching & Privacy Protection Act of 1988 & Amendments of 1990 – 5 U.S. Code section 552a (a)(8)-(13), (e)(12), (o), (p), (q), (r), & (u). This law amends the federal Privacy Act of 1974 and sets requirements that federal agencies must follow when performing certain automated comparisons of federal benefit program information of individuals with information held by other federal, state or local agencies.
7. Federal Unsolicited Commercial Law
   1. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 – 15 U.S. Code sections 7701-7713. The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM) requires unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to be labeled (though not by a standard method) and to include opt-out instructions and the sender’s physical address. Among other provisions, it prohibits the use of deceptive subject lines and false headers in such messages. The FTC is authorized (but not required) to establish a “do-not-email” registry, and certain provisions of CAN-SPAM can be enforced by State attorneys general.
   2. Telephone of the Law of Protection of the Consumer (TCPA) –47 U.S. Code section 227. This law puts restrictions on telemarketing calls and on the use of auto-dialers, prerecorded messages, and fax machines to send unsolicited advertisements.