637.5
. (a) No person who owns, controls, operates, or manages a
satellite or cable television corporation, or who leases channels on
a satellite or cable system shall:
(1) Use any electronic device to record, transmit, or observe any
events or listen to, record, or monitor any conversations that take
place inside a subscriber's residence, workplace, or place of
business, without obtaining the express written consent of the
subscriber. A satellite or cable television corporation may conduct
electronic sweeps of subscriber households to monitor for signal
quality.
(2) Provide any person with any individually identifiable
information regarding any of its subscribers, including, but not
limited to, the subscriber's television viewing habits, shopping
choices, interests, opinions, energy uses, medical information,
banking data or information, or any other personal or private
information, without the subscriber's express written consent.
(b) Individual subscriber viewing responses or other individually
identifiable information derived from subscribers may be retained and
used by a satellite or cable television corporation only to the
extent reasonably necessary for billing purposes and internal
business practices, and to monitor for unauthorized reception of
services. A satellite or cable television corporation may compile,
maintain, and distribute a list containing the names and addresses of
its subscribers if the list contains no other individually
identifiable information and if subscribers are afforded the right to
elect not to be included on the list. However, a satellite or cable
television corporation shall maintain adequate safeguards to ensure
the physical security and confidentiality of the subscriber
information.
(c) A satellite or cable television corporation shall not make
individual subscriber information available to government agencies in
the absence of legal compulsion, including, but not limited to, a
court order or subpoena. If requests for information are made, a
satellite or cable television corporation shall promptly notify the
subscriber of the nature of the request and what government agency
has requested the information prior to responding unless otherwise
prohibited from doing so by law.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent local
franchising authorities from obtaining information necessary to
monitor franchise compliance pursuant to franchise or license
agreements. This information shall be provided so as to omit
individually identifiable subscriber information whenever possible.
Information obtained by local franchising authorities shall be used
solely for monitoring franchise compliance and shall not be subject
to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(d) Any individually identifiable subscriber information gathered
by a satellite or cable television corporation shall be made
available for subscriber examination within 30 days of receiving a
request by a subscriber to examine the information on the premises of
the corporation. Upon a reasonable showing by the subscriber that
the information is inaccurate, a satellite or cable television
corporation shall correct the information.
(e) Upon a subscriber's application for satellite or cable
television service, including, but not limited to, interactive
service, a satellite or cable television corporation shall provide
the applicant with a separate notice in an appropriate form
explaining the subscriber's right to privacy protection afforded by
this section.
(f) As used in this section:
(1) "Cable television corporation" shall have the same meaning as
that term is given by Section 216.4 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2) "Individually identifiable information" means any information
identifying an individual or his or her use of any service provided
by a satellite or cable system other than the mere fact that the
individual is a satellite or cable television subscriber.
"Individually identifiable information" shall not include anonymous,
aggregate, or any other information that does not identify an
individual subscriber of a video provider service.
(3) "Person" includes an individual, business association,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal
entity, and an individual acting or purporting to act for or on
behalf of any government, or subdivision thereof, whether federal,
state, or local.
(4) "Interactive service" means any service offered by a satellite
or cable television corporation involving the collection, reception,
aggregation, storage, or use of electronic information transmitted
from a subscriber to any other receiving point under the control of
the satellite or cable television corporation, or vice versa.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
ability of a satellite or cable television corporation to market
satellite or cable television or ancillary services to its
subscribers.
(h) Any person receiving subscriber information from a satellite
or cable television corporation shall be subject to the provisions of
this section.
(i) Any aggrieved person may commence a civil action for damages
for invasion of privacy against any satellite or cable television
corporation, service provider, or person that leases a channel or
channels on a satellite or cable television system that violates the
provisions of this section.
(j) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding three
thousand dollars ($3,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(k) The penalties and remedies provided by subdivisions (i) and
(j) are cumulative, and shall not be construed as restricting any
penalty or remedy, provisional or otherwise, provided by law for the
benefit of any person, and no judgment under this section shall
preclude any person from obtaining additional relief based upon the
same facts.
(l) The provisions of this section are intended to set forth
minimum state standards for protecting the privacy of subscribers to
cable television services and are not intended to preempt more
restrictive local standards.