<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Lawmakers Shelve Digital Afterlife Bill

A California Senate committee last month shelved for the year tech-backed legislation aimed at setting rules for how and when a deceased person's online records, e-mails and social media postings can be disclosed.

The Judiciary Committee sent'AB 691, the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act, to the Senate floor with instructions that it not be voted on until the Legislature reconvenes in January. The last day of this year's legislative session is Friday.

Critics, including the Judicial Council and the California Judges Association, have complained that bill would flood the courts with people seeking records tied to the decedents, giving judges the enormous task of determining whether disclosing the digital assets of the dead would violate a host of state or federal laws.

The delay, said Committee Chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will give both sides time to “work out a few amendments. I think you're really close, so that we can for sure take this up in January and give you the interim to work it out. ' You're almost there.”

AB 691 is sponsored by Facebook Inc. and TechNet and has the backing of Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and the Internet Association. The companies and their lobbies have been working for years on a statutory answer to handling the electronic records of the deceased that would provide both clarity and legal protection to the data-holders.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is working with tech companies, privacy groups and fiduciaries on model legislation addressing some of those issues. The tech lobby, however, has been pushing to enact its own bill in California.

“They try to make it work in all 50 states,” said John Doherty, TechNet's general counsel. “Very rarely does that work in California. California frequently goes its own way.”

But the Judicial Council and representatives of probate lawyers say AB 691, authored by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, is too vague and would ultimately force “nine out of 10″ records-seekers to court.

“What we don't want to do is to squeeze that balloon and have it cause problems in the judicial system,” said Mark Weideman, a lobbyist for the trusts and estates section of the State Bar.

The bill's critics told the committee they thought they could reach an agreement with Calderon, if a vote was delayed. Calderon begrudgingly agreed.

“It's not like this is a new issue or a new concept to this body,” he said. “We've continued to try to address it, and waiting until January doesn't mean it's done in January. It may not continue to move on for months. And that means just another year of people still having to go to court.”

–'Cheryl Miller, The Recorder

'

A California Senate committee last month shelved for the year tech-backed legislation aimed at setting rules for how and when a deceased person's online records, e-mails and social media postings can be disclosed.

The Judiciary Committee sent'AB 691, the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act, to the Senate floor with instructions that it not be voted on until the Legislature reconvenes in January. The last day of this year's legislative session is Friday.

Critics, including the Judicial Council and the California Judges Association, have complained that bill would flood the courts with people seeking records tied to the decedents, giving judges the enormous task of determining whether disclosing the digital assets of the dead would violate a host of state or federal laws.

The delay, said Committee Chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will give both sides time to “work out a few amendments. I think you're really close, so that we can for sure take this up in January and give you the interim to work it out. ' You're almost there.”

AB 691 is sponsored by Facebook Inc. and TechNet and has the backing of Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and the Internet Association. The companies and their lobbies have been working for years on a statutory answer to handling the electronic records of the deceased that would provide both clarity and legal protection to the data-holders.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is working with tech companies, privacy groups and fiduciaries on model legislation addressing some of those issues. The tech lobby, however, has been pushing to enact its own bill in California.

“They try to make it work in all 50 states,” said John Doherty, TechNet's general counsel. “Very rarely does that work in California. California frequently goes its own way.”

But the Judicial Council and representatives of probate lawyers say AB 691, authored by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, is too vague and would ultimately force “nine out of 10″ records-seekers to court.

“What we don't want to do is to squeeze that balloon and have it cause problems in the judicial system,” said Mark Weideman, a lobbyist for the trusts and estates section of the State Bar.

The bill's critics told the committee they thought they could reach an agreement with Calderon, if a vote was delayed. Calderon begrudgingly agreed.

“It's not like this is a new issue or a new concept to this body,” he said. “We've continued to try to address it, and waiting until January doesn't mean it's done in January. It may not continue to move on for months. And that means just another year of people still having to go to court.”

–'Cheryl Miller, The Recorder

'