Law / United States / 
California
Confidentiality of Social Security Numbers
Cal. Civ. Code sections 1798.85 to 1798.89
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Security
As of .
What it requires
- Do not publicly post or publicly display an individual's social security number in any manner (section 1798.85(a)(1)).
- Do not print an individual's social security number on any card required to access products or services you provide (section 1798.85(a)(2)).
- Do not require an individual to transmit their social security number over the internet unless the connection is secure or the number is encrypted (section 1798.85(a)(3)).
- Do not require an individual to use their social security number to access an internet website unless a password, unique personal identification number or other authentication device is also required (section 1798.85(a)(4)).
- Do not print an individual's social security number on materials mailed to the individual unless state or federal law requires it. Applications and forms sent by mail may include it, but not on a postcard or other mailer without an envelope, and not visible on the envelope (section 1798.85(a)(5)).
- Do not sell, advertise for sale or offer to sell an individual's social security number. Release incidental to a larger transaction that is necessary to identify the individual for a legitimate business purpose, or that law specifically authorizes, is not a sale, and release for marketing is not permitted (section 1798.85(a)(6)).
- Do not encode or embed a social security number in a card or document, such as in a barcode, chip or magnetic strip, in place of removing it (section 1798.85(g)).
- Do not present for recording or filing with a county recorder a document required to be open to the public that displays more than the last four digits of a social security number (section 1798.89(a)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Civil Code section 1798.85 bars a person or entity from publicly posting or publicly displaying an individual's social security number in any manner. Section 1798.85(a)(3) also bars requiring an individual to transmit the number over the internet unless the connection is secure or the number is encrypted.
Section 1798.85(a)(4) bars requiring an individual to use the number to access an internet website unless a password, unique personal identification number or other authentication device is also required. Section 1798.85(a)(6) bars selling, advertising for sale or offering to sell an individual's social security number.
Section 1798.85(g) bars a person or entity from encoding or embedding a social security number in a card or document, including by a barcode, chip or magnetic strip, in place of removing it. Under section 1798.86 of the Civil Code, any waiver of the provisions of the title is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable. When SB 168 enacted section 1798.85, its prohibitions applied to uses of social security numbers on or after .
Section 1798.85 as currently in force was amended by Statutes 2021, chapter 615 (AB 474), effective and operative .
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