SECTIONS 1799.1-1799.1b - California Statutes

CIVIL CODE

SECTION 1799.1-1799.1b

1799.1. (a) No business entity which performs bookkeeping services
shall disclose in whole or in part the contents of any record,
including the disclosure of information in the record in any
composite of information, which is prepared or maintained by such
business entity to any person, other than the individual or business
entity which is the subject of the record, without the express
written consent of such individual or business entity.
(b) This section shall not apply to the following:
(1) To a disclosure to any person pursuant to a subpoena or court
order.
(2) To a disclosure which is discoverable.
(3) To a disclosure to any person acting pursuant to a lawful
search warrant.
(4) To a disclosure to a law enforcement agency when required for
investigations of criminal activity, unless such disclosure is
prohibited by law.
(5) To a disclosure to a taxing agency for purposes of tax
administration.

1799.1a. (a) No person, including an individual, firm, corporation,
association, partnership, or joint venture, or any employee or agent
thereof, shall disclose information obtained from a federal or state
income tax return or any information obtained from a tax schedule
submitted with the return by a consumer in connection with a
financial or other business-related transaction unless the disclosure
is within any of the following:
(1) Consented to in writing by the consumer in a separate document
that states to whom the disclosure will be made and how the
information will be used. If the consumer agrees, this separate
consent document may be in the form of an electronic record, executed
by an electronic signature as provided by Title 2.5 (commencing with
Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division 3 of the Civil Code.
(2) Authorized or required by state or federal law.
(3) Necessary to complete or service the financial or
business-related transaction or to effect, administer, or enforce a
financial or business-related transaction requested by the consumer.
(4) Pursuant to court order.
(5) Required to complete any of the transactions described in
subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, by a person, including an
individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership or joint
venture, if the disclosure is made solely for that purpose. The
provisions of this section apply to any person, including an
individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, or joint
venture, and any employee or agent thereof, receiving information as
a result of a disclosure authorized by this paragraph.
(A) A proposed or actual sale, merger, transfer, or exchange of
all or a portion of a business or operating unit.
(B) A proposed or actual securitization or secondary market sale,
including the sale of servicing rights.
(C) To provide information to insurance rate advisory
organizations, guaranty funds or agencies, rating agencies, and other
persons assessing compliance with industry standards.
(D) To protect against or to prevent actual or potential fraud and
unauthorized transactions and claims and for institutional risk
control activities.
(b) No unrelated use shall be made of a federal or state tax
return or any information obtained therefrom or any information
submitted with the return by a consumer in connection with a
financial or other business-related transaction. "Unrelated use"
means any use that is not necessary to effect, administer, or enforce
the financial or other business-related transaction with the
consumer or that is beyond the scope of the stated purpose to which
the consumer consented for the use of the return or any other
information he or she submitted.
(c) (1) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
shall apply:
(A) "Affiliate" means any entity that, directly or indirectly,
through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is
under common control with, another entity.
(B) "Consumer" means an individual who requests or obtains
financial or other business-related services.
(C) "Tax return" means a return, declaration, statement, refund
claim, or other document required to be made or to be filed in
connection with state or federal income taxes or state bank and
corporation franchise taxes.
(2) A disclosure prohibited by this section includes a disclosure
made internally within the entity or by that entity to any of its
subsidiaries or affiliates.
(3) The information described in subdivision (a) includes that
information obtained through an electronic medium.
(d) No person, including an individual, firm, corporation,
association, partnership, or joint venture, or any employee or agent
thereof, shall dispose of any of the information described in
subdivision (a) in a manner in which the identity of the consumer may
be determined from the disposed information alone or in combination
with other publicly available information. This subdivision shall not
become operative if Assembly Bill 2246 of the 1999-2000 Regular
Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1,
2001.
(e) The civil remedies in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
1799.2) shall be applicable to a violation of this section. Each
violation of this section shall constitute a separate cause of action
for which damages are recoverable.
(f) The treatment of tax returns by tax preparers, as defined in
Section 22251 of the Business and Professions Code, shall be governed
by Section 17530.5 of the Business and Professions Code.

1799.1b. (a) Any credit card issuer that receives a change of
address request, other than for a correction of a typographical
error, from a cardholder who orders a replacement credit card within
60 days before or after that request is received shall send to that
cardholder a change of address notification that is addressed to the
cardholder at the cardholder's previous address of record. If the
replacement credit card is requested prior to the effective date of
the change of address, the notification shall be sent within 30 days
of the change of address request. If the replacement credit card is
requested after the effective date of the change of address, the
notification shall be sent within 30 days of the request for the
replacement credit card.
(b) Any business entity that provides telephone accounts that
receives a change of address request, other than for a correction of
a typographical error, from an accountholder who orders new service,
shall send to that accountholder a change of address notification
that is addressed to the accountholder at the accountholder's
previous address of record. The notification shall be sent within 30
days of the request for new service.
(c) The notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may be
given by telephone or e-mail communication if the credit card issuer
or business entity that provides telephone accounts reasonably
believes that it has the current telephone number or e-mail address
for the accountholder or cardholder who has requested a change of
address. If the notification is in writing it may not contain the
consumer's account number, social security number, or other personal
identifying information, but may contain the consumer's name,
previous address, and new address of record. For business entities
described in subdivision (b), the notification may also contain the
accountholder's telephone number.
(d) A credit card issuer or a business entity that provides
telephone accounts is not required to send a change of address
notification when a change of address request is made in person by a
consumer who has presented valid identification, or is made by
telephone and the requester has provided a unique alpha-numeric
password.
(e) The following definitions shall apply to this section:
(1) "Credit account" has the same meaning as "credit card," as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 1747.02.
(2) "Telephone account" means an account with a telephone
corporation, as defined in Section 234 of the Public Utilities Code.