SB 272

On October 11, 2015, the State of California enacted Senate Bill 272 (SB 272) which required local agencies to make publicly available a catalog of application software (“Enterprise System”) that is used enterprise wide.

Enterprise System

“Enterprise System,” as defined by Senate Bill 272 (SB272), is referred to as a system that “collects, exchanges, and analyzes information that the agency uses” in multiple departments and/or is an original data source.

Requirements

For each agency’s Enterprise Systems the following is to be disclosed:

• Current system vendor.
• Current system product.
• A brief statement of the system’s purpose.
• A general description of the categories or types of data.
• The department that serves as the primary custodian.
• How frequently the data is collected.
• How frequently the system data is updated.

Exceptions

Local agencies must disclose Enterprise Systems with the following exceptions:

• Physical access control systems, including employee identification management, video monitoring and other physical control systems.
• Infrastructure and mechanical control systems, including those that control or manage street lights, electrical, natural gas, or water or sewer functions.
• Systems related to 911 dispatch and operation or emergency services.
• Systems that would be restricted from disclosure pursuant to Section 6254.19.
• The specific records that the information system collects, exchanges, or analyzes.

In addition, the bill is not intended to “permit public access to records held by an agency to which access is otherwise restricted by statute or to alter the process for requesting public records.” If the public interest is served by not disclosing or is best served by disclosure of “system name, brief title, or identifier of the system,” then the agency may provide these brief details of the system.

All agencies are to complete this posting by July 1, 2016 and update annually.

The full text of the bill can be found here: SB 272