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SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES: Sec. B4-3. Definitions.

Copyrighted by SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE & Municipal Code Corporation, 1998.

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Sec. B4-3. Definitions.

For purposes of this division:

(a) "Confidential consumer information" means personally identifiable information (1) that a consumer provides to a financial institution to obtain a product or service from the financial institution, (2) about a consumer resulting from any transaction involving a product or service between the financial institution and a consumer, or (3) that the financial institution otherwise obtains about a consumer in connection with providing a product or service to that consumer. Confidential consumer information does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from (1) federal, state, or local government records, (2) widely distributed media, or (3) disclosures to the general public that are required to be made by federal, state, or local law. Confidential consumer information shall include any list, description, or other grouping of consumers, and publicly available information pertaining to them that is derived using any confidential consumer information, but shall not include any list, description, or other grouping of consumers, and publicly available information pertaining to them that is derived without using any confidential consumer information.

(b) Confidential consumer information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Information a consumer provides to a financial institution on an application to obtain a loan, credit card, or other financial product or service.

(2) Account balance information, payment history, overdraft history, and credit or debit card purchase information.

(3) The fact that an individual is or has been a customer of a financial institution or has obtained a financial product or service from a financial institution.

(4) Any information about a financial institution's customer if it is disclosed in a manner that indicates that the individual is or has been the financial institution's customer.

(5) Any information that a consumer provides to a financial institution or that a financial institution or its agent otherwise obtains in connection with collecting on a loan or servicing a loan.

(6) Any information collected through an Internet cookie or any information collecting device from a Web server.

(7) Information from a consumer report.

(8) A consumer's Social Security number.

(c) "Financial institution" generally means any institution located and doing business in unincorporated County of Santa Clara that significantly engages in financial activities as described in Section 1843(k) of Title 12 of the United States Code. The term "financial institution" does not include the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation or any entity chartered and operating under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. § 2001 et seq.), provided that the entity does not sell or transfer confidential consumer information to a nonaffiliated third party. The term "financial institution" does not include institutions chartered by Congress specifically to engage in a proposed or actual securitization, secondary market sale, including sales of servicing rights, or similar transactions related to a transaction of the consumer, as long as those institutions do not sell or transfer confidential consumer information to a nonaffiliated third party. The term "financial institution" does not include any person licensed as a dealer under Article 1 of Chapter 4 of Division 5 of the Vehicle Code (Vehicle Code § 11700 et seq.) that enters into contracts for the installment sale or lease of motor vehicles pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 2b (Civil Code § 2981 et seq.) or 2d (Civil Code § 2985.7 et seq.) of Title 14 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code and assigns substantially all of those contracts to financial institutions within 30 days. The term "financial institution" does not include any provider of professional services, or any wholly owned affiliate thereof, that is prohibited by rules of professional ethics or applicable law from voluntarily disclosing confidential client information without the consent of the client.

(d) "Affiliate" means any person or entity that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another person or entity. A franchisor, including any affiliate thereof, shall be deemed an affiliate of the franchisee for purposes of this division.

(e) "Nonaffiliated third party" means any entity that is not an affiliate of, or related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control with, the financial institution.

(f) "Consumer" means a natural person, or that person's legal representative, that obtains or has obtained a financial product or service from a financial institution that is to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and the person (A) resides in unincorporated County of Santa Clara, or (B) obtains or has obtained the product or service while present in unincorporated County of Santa Clara. For purposes of this division, a person shall be considered a resident of unincorporated County of Santa Clara if the person's last known mailing address, as shown on the records of the financial institution, is located in unincorporated County of Santa Clara.

(g) "Control" means the direct or indirect possession of power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of another entity. Control includes any of the following: (1) ownership or power to vote 25 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting security of a company, acting through one or more persons, (2) power in any manner over the election of a majority of the directors, or of individuals exercising similar functions, or (3) power to exercise a directing influence over the management of policies of a company.

(h) "Necessary to effect, administer, or enforce" means the following:

(1) The disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate, or acceptable method to carry out the transaction or the product or service business of which the transaction is a part, and record or service or maintain the consumer's account in the ordinary course of providing the financial service or financial product, or to administer or service benefits or claims relating to the transaction or the product or service business of which it is a part, and includes the following:

(A) Providing the consumer or the consumer's agent or broker with a confirmation, statement, or other record of the transaction, or information on the status or value of the financial service or financial product.

(B) The accrual or recognition of incentives or bonuses associated with the transaction that are provided by the financial institution or another party involved in providing the financial service or product.

(2) The disclosure is required or is a lawful method to enforce the rights of the financial institution or of other persons engaged in carrying out the financial transaction or providing the product or service.

(3) The disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate, or acceptable method for insurance underwriting at the consumer's request, for reinsurance purposes, or for any of the following purposes as they relate to a consumer's insurance:

(A) Account administration.

(B) Reporting, investigating, or preventing fraud or material misrepresentation.

(D) Processing insurance claims.

(E) Administering insurance benefits, including utilization review activities.

(F) For internal research purposes.

(G) As otherwise required or specifically permitted by federal or state law.

(4) The disclosure is required, or is a usual, appropriate or acceptable method, in connection with the following:

(A) The authorization, settlement, billing, processing, clearing, transferring, reconciling, or collection of amounts charged, debited, or otherwise paid using debit, credit or other payment card, check or account number, or by other payment means.

(B) The transfer of receivables, accounts, or interest therein.

(i) "Financial product or service" means any product or service that a financial holding company could offer by engaging in an activity that is financial in nature or incidental to financial activity under Subsection (k) of Section 1843 of Title 12 of the United States Code (the United States Bank Holding Company Act of 1956). Financial service includes a financial institution's evaluation or brokerage of information that the financial institution collects in connection with a request or an application from a consumer for financial product or service.

(j) "Clearly and conspicuously" means displayed in a manner that is readily noticeable, readable, and understandable to consumers. Factors to be considered in determining whether a notice or disclosure is clear and conspicuous include prominence, proximity, absence of distracting elements, and clarity and understanding of the disclosure.

(k) "Widely distributed media" means publicly available information from a telephone book, a television or radio program, a newspaper or a Web site that is available to the general public on an unrestricted basis.

(Ord. No. NS-300.706, 2-11-03)