350.  (a) There is hereby created in the Department of Consumer
Affairs an Office of Privacy Protection under the direction of the
Director of Consumer Affairs and the Secretary of the State and
Consumer Services Agency.  The office's purpose shall be protecting
the privacy of individuals' personal information in a manner
consistent with the California Constitution by identifying consumer
problems in the privacy area and facilitating 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).
   (b) The office shall inform the public of potential options for
protecting the privacy of, and avoiding the misuse of, personal
information.
   (c) The office shall make recommendations to organizations for
privacy policies and practices that promote and protect the interests
of California consumers.
   (d) The office may promote voluntary and mutually agreed upon
nonbinding arbitration and mediation of privacy-related disputes
where appropriate.
   (e) The Director of Consumer Affairs shall do all of the
following:
   (1) Receive complaints from individuals concerning any 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 director shall refer those complaints to those
agencies.
   (3) Develop information and educational programs and materials to
foster public understanding and recognition of the purposes of this
article.
   (4) Investigate and assist in the prosecution of identity theft
and other privacy-related crimes, and, as necessary, coordinate with
local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the
investigation of similar crimes.
   (5) Assist and coordinate in the training of local, state, and
federal law enforcement agencies regarding identity theft and other
privacy-related crimes, as appropriate.
   (6) The authority of the office, the director, or the secretary,
to adopt regulations under this article shall be limited exclusively
to those regulations necessary and appropriate to implement
subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e).


352.  (a) Subject to subdivision (b), the department shall commence
activities under this article no later than January 1, 2002.
   (b) The provisions of this article shall only be operative for
those years in which there is an appropriation from the General Fund
in the Budget Act to fund the activities required by this article.