Since 2015, Oakland Privacy has been active in getting statewide legislation related to our interests either created and enacted, or defeated, in Sacramento, CA. We have attempted to find authors for bills, worked in coalition with other organizations to advocate for or against bills, talked directly with State Senators and Assemblymembers, sent support or disapproval letters to appropriate legislative committees before their hearings on legislation, organized online call and email campaigns, and more.
Some of the legislation we have put significant effort into over the last several years (‘chaptered’ indicates the bill was signed into law):
2023
Assembly Bill 223. Support. Chaptered. Sealing of minor name change records.
Assembly Bill 994. Support. Chaptered. Takedowns of mugshots posted on social media.
Assembly Bill 254. Support. Chaptered. Brings the data from reproductive health apps like period trackers and fertility aids under California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CIMA).
Assembly Bill 352 Support. Chaptered. Prevents automatic sharing of health information related to abortion through medical records.
Senate Bill 345. Support Chaptered. Removes the language unborn babies and unborn persons from the state code, replacing with the word fetus.
2020
Assembly Bill 1185. Support. Chaptered. Allows a county to set up a sheriff oversight body with subpoena power with either a majority vote of the board of supervisors or a referendum by the voters. Also interprets code section 25303 to grant policy guidance for a county board of supervisors.
Assembly Bill 2788. Support. Chaptered. Prohibits a utility company from providing consumption data to a federal immigration agency using an administrative warrant.
Senate Bill 980. Support. Vetoed. Genetic Information Privacy Act to protect DNA samples submitted to genetic testing companies.
2019
Assembly Bill 1202. Support. Chaptered. Creates a state data broker registry.
Assembly Bill 1747. Support. Chaptered. Prohibits the use of driver license information in CLETS by federal immigration enforcement.
Assembly Bill 1416. Oppose. Died in committee. Would have allowed companies to sell personal information they collect to government agencies and exempt such sales from the CA Consumer Privacy Act.
Senate Bill 439. Oppose Unless Amended. Chaptered. This bill originally would have allowed law enforcement to utilize ancillary information from a wiretap for dozens of penal code amendments. Amendments requested reduced that to two categories of crime: grand theft with a firearm and igniting an explosive to cause bodily harm or death.
Senate Bill 194. Oppose. Died in committee. Would have made it a misdemeanor crime to fail to remove a mask, disguise or false whiskers at the request of a CA law enforcement officer.
Assembly Bill 748. Support. Chaptered. Requires the release of police body camera videos.
Senate Bill 1421. Support. Chaptered. Opens up many police misconduct records to Ca Public Records Act requests.
Senate Bill 822. Support. Chaptered. State network neutrality.
Assembly Bill 16. Oppose. Died on Assembly floor. Would have expanded DNA collection for people convicted of some misdemeanors, amending some of Proposition 69.
2017
Assembly Bill 90. Support. Chaptered. Oversight board for the Cal-Gang database.
Assembly Bill 375. Support. Chaptered. Data privacy right to know and right to opt out law. Stalled on the Senate floor in 2017. Became the CCPA in 2018 after significant amendments.
Senate Bill 21 and 1186. Support. Held in Appropriations. Would have established an oversight framework for all law enforcement agencies with the state requiring acquisition approval, use policies, civil rights impact reports and biannual audits.
Assembly Bill 1559. Oppose. Died in committee. Would have established a state grant program to pay for gunshot detection equipment for CA law enforcement agencies.
2016
Assembly Bill 1681. Oppose. Died in committee. Would have required all smart phones manufactured in California to have an manufacturer’s encryption back door.
2015
Senate Bill 741. Support. Chaptered. Requires a noticed public meeting to discuss the acquisition of a cell site simulator and City Council approval of a privacy and use policy that is available for public comment and then publicly posted.
Senate Bill 34. Support. Chaptered. Requires a noticed public meeting to discuss the acquisition of automated license plate readers and City Council approval of a privacy and use policy that is available for public comment and then publicly posted.