Information Practices Act

Citation
Information Practices Act (IPA), Cal. Civ. Code §§1798 et seq.

Overview
The Act limits the use and disclosure of personal information held by the state and local government. The law also provides people with notice of the purposes for which their information is collected and maintained, and states, as a general rule, that information may not be disclosed outside the original agency without the individual's "prior written voluntary consent."

A lengthy list of exceptions to the consent requirement includes disclosures for law enforcement access, adoption proceedings, and scientific research. The law requires that information be maintained with "accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness."

The IPA is the companion state law to the federal Privacy Act of 1974.