(a) There is hereby created, in the State and Consumer Services Agency, the Office of Privacy Protection. The purpose of the Office of Privacy Protection shall be to protect the privacy of individuals’ personal information in a manner consistent with the California Constitution by identifying consumer problems in the privacy area and facilitating the development of fair information practices in adherence with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code) and to promote and protect consumer privacy to ensure the trust of the residents of this state.

(b) The Office of Privacy Protection shall inform the public of potential options for protecting the privacy of, and avoiding the misuse of, personal information.

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(c) The Office of Privacy Protection shall make recommendations to organizations for privacy policies and practices that promote and protect the interests of the consumers of this state.

(d) The Office of Privacy Protection may promote voluntary and mutually agreed upon nonbinding arbitration and mediation of privacy-related disputes where appropriate.

(e) The Office of Privacy Protection shall do all of the following:

(1) Receive complaints from individuals concerning a person obtaining, compiling, maintaining, using, disclosing, or disposing of personal information in a manner that may be potentially unlawful or violate a stated privacy policy relating to that individual, and provide advice, information, and referral, where available.

(2) Provide information to consumers on effective ways of handling complaints that involve violations of privacy-related laws, including identity theft and identity fraud. If appropriate local, state, or federal agencies are available to assist consumers with those complaints, the office shall refer those complaints to those agencies.

(3) Develop informational and educational programs and materials to foster public understanding and recognition of the purposes of this article.

(4) Assist and coordinate in the training of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies regarding identity theft and other privacy-related crimes, as appropriate.

(5) The authority of the Office of Privacy Protection to adopt regulations under this article shall be limited exclusively to those regulations necessary and appropriate to implement subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e).

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 404, Sec. 31. (AB 2408) Effective January 1, 2011.)