Political Watch 2/6/14

• A bill created by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to protect consumer privacy when making certain online purchases, passed 21 to 13 off the Senate floor on Jan. 30, and headed to the state Assembly. Senate Bill 383 is designed to protect consumer privacy when customers are using a credit card to purchase downloadable content online. The bill enables merchants to collect personal information from a consumer only if the information is necessary to combat fraud or identity theft. A press release sent out by Jackson’s office said the bill prohibits merchants from selling that information or using it for marketing purposes unless the consumer explicitly gives them permission. Once personal information is no longer needed, the bill requires merchants to destroy it in a secure manner. “Californians believe so strongly in the right to privacy that, as the result of an initiative, it has been explicitly outlined in our state’s constitution for more than four decades,” Jackson said in the press release. “We are living in a new digital age where that basic right is being challenged in ways we could never have imagined 40 years ago.”

• On Jan. 29, President Barack Obama called Gov. Jerry Brown to receive an update on the drought situation in California, according to a statement released by the White House. The release said Obama also expressed his concern for the citizens impacted by the “historic drought conditions facing the state—conditions that are likely to have significant impacts on the state’s communities, economy, and environment” in the near future. The president told Brown that he was committed to providing the necessary federal support to the state and local efforts.