Assembly set to vote on privacy measure Panel OKs Speier’s bill, kills hostile amendment
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Clearing one of the last hurdles for a financial-privacy measure, a key Assembly committee narrowly approved the landmark bill Friday and readied it for a final showdown next week. With Assembly and Senate Democratic leaders blessing the measure behind the scenes, the privacy bill was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee with only a handful of moderate Democrats refusing to vote. Now it appears that state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, has one last hurdle: passage in the full Assembly before the Legislature adjourns Aug. 31. The bill failed in the Assembly in September after 21 members declined to vote, but over the past year Speier has picked up support. By one count, 35 to 38 Assembly members back her bill, but she needs 41 for passage. “I’m very hopeful it will pass the floor,” said Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee. “The privacy issue has been debated for hours and hours, and I really do believe that members have heard from their constituents and they know most people support being able to control how their private information is used.” The Speier measure came about because the federal government in 1999 allowed financial companies to expand their operations into new areas. State Farm Insurance, for example, is now starting up State Farm Bank — and both are expected to rely on the vast amounts of personal information about their customers to market their products. Speier’s measure would allow a customer to prohibit the exchange of personal information between affiliates of a large conglomerate like Citibank or Bank of America. Information kept on customers can include analyses of spending habits, debt balances, private phone numbers and credit histories. Federal law already prohibits the selling or trading of credit card numbers. But some companies that hawk products on the phone have agreements with credit card companies that allow a consumer’s account to be charged automatically. Speier’s measure would prohibit credit card companies or banks from supplying a potential list of customers to these outside marketing companies if they are selling a nonfinancial product like a cruise vacation or aluminum siding. |