BILL ANALYSIS 1
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SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
DEBRA BOWEN, CHAIRWOMAN
SB 666 - Bowen Hearing Date:
April 8, 2003 S
As Introduced: February 21, 2003 FISCAL B
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DESCRIPTION
Current law provides for a program where telephone customers can
dial "911" to directly contact emergency response personnel.
That program is administered by the Communications Division of
the Department of General Services (DGS).
Current law requires 911 calls from wireless phones to first go
to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) unless a local public
safety agency reaches agreement with the CHP and DGS that the
call should first be routed to the local public safety agency.
This bill requires the Communications Division to annually
report to the Legislature on the status of implementing "911"
service in connection with wireless telephones.
Current law creates the Office of Privacy Protection (OPP)
within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
This bill requires OPP to convene a working group of wireless
telecommunications service providers and users, as well as
privacy policy experts, to recommend a state privacy policy
related to customer location information on users of wireless
communications services.
BACKGROUND
Wireless telephones are marvels of modern technology and have
proven to be remarkably useful. This utility has been
demonstrated in the United States, where there are more than 144
million wireless subscribers, and worldwide, where nearly 500
million wireless phones will be sold this year. Wireless phones
often provide superior functionality to traditional telephones.
However, they have some shortcomings, one of which relates to
their ability to deliver 911 emergency service.
When 911 is called from traditional telephones, the public
safety answer point (PSAP), which is the police, fire, sheriff,
or CHP dispatch center that answers the call, is automatically
provided with the caller's telephone number and street address.
This information is critical to providing rapid and accurate
emergency response. It's particularly helpful because in times
of emergency, flustered callers can fumble this basic
information - or they many not be in a position to provide it.
However, when 911 is called from a wireless phone, the calling
number is only sporadically provided and location information is
never provided.
The lack of location information for wireless 911 calls has
delayed emergency response, and in some instances, resulted in a
loss of life. Providing location information on wireless 911
calls is particularly useful precisely because the users are
mobile and probably aren't calling from home. The federal
government has required wireless phone companies to provide
location information on 911 calls. Several types of location
technologies are proposed, including requiring wireless phones
to employ a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip or
alternatively using a triangulation method based on wireless
phone signal strength and timing of receipt of the signal at
adjacent wireless phone towers. The accuracy standard is for
95% of wireless phones to be located within 50 meters of their
true position by the end of 2005. This true position includes
latitude and longitude, but not elevation.
Providing location information requires three actions. First,
the wireless phone networks must be capable of supplying the
location information. Second, for some wireless phone
companies, the handset must be upgraded to work with the
wireless phone network. Third, the PSAPs must be upgraded to
make use of the location information. Responsibility for these
actions is dispersed between the wireless phone company (network
upgrade), the customer (handset upgrade), and the Communications
Division and PSAPs (PSAP equipment upgrade).
The ability of wireless phone companies to provide location
information on wireless phone customers is a double-edged sword.
While useful for emergency response, such location information
could be used for commercial purposes. A customer walking past
a Starbucks may receive a call from that Starbucks offering a
special on a double-decaf mocha latte. More threateningly,
location technology allows for unprecedented opportunity to
follow someone and know exactly where and when they've been all
day. This raises a host of legal and civil liberty questions
about who has or should have access to the data, whether it's
proprietary, subject to subpoena, available for sale, and much
more.
COMMENTS
1.Part I - Wireless 911 . The promise of wireless 911 location
technology has yet to become a reality. The first part of
this bill requires the DGS Communications Division to begin
providing the Legislature with annual updates (beginning in
March 2004) on the status of implementation of a wireless 911
system with location information.
2.Part II - Should Your Wireless Phone Serve As A LoJack? As
noted above, the ability of wireless phone companies to
provide location information on wireless phone customers has a
number of privacy, civil liberty, and legal implications.
TRUSTe, a non-profit organization active in Internet commerce
issues, is working on a wireless privacy project in
conjunction with some wireless carriers, privacy advocates,
and electronic commerce advocates. This bill requires the OPP
to convene a working group of privacy interests and recommend
a privacy policy to the Legislature by July 1, 2004.
POSITIONS
Sponsor:
Author
Support:
None on file
Oppose:
None on file
Randy Chinn
SB 666 Analysis
Hearing Date: April 8, 2003