Violation of Privacy Policy.

[pbminor]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I live in California.
When a sole proprietor applies for a seller's permit, their information is protected by a privacy policy. The sole proprietor then starts receiving junk mail (USPS). The absolute only place that the name and address of this sole proprietor could have been obtained was from the Seller's Permit Application. The Board of Equalization insists this could not have happened. I've contacted the Tax Right's advocacy group and they are trying to determine who I should contact. Everyone is treating my concern as if it could not have happened. It did. I'm getting kind of frustrated with the situation.
Can anyone offer a suggestion as to who/what agency I should contact to get this resolved?

 

[tranquility]

Get WHAT resolved?

You made a claim of malfeasance against a government agency. They told you you were wrong and that there is lots of sand at the beach you can pound. Now what?

You can either sue the agency with no proof against them which will result in a malicious prosecution lawsuit against you, you can hire a private detective and shovel money at him and maybe he can find out the truth or you can try to get the press involved. (Of course, you can do the investigation yourself.)

 

[CdwJava]

And, even in the BOE's own literature, it indicates that under certain circumstances the information can be released to the public. I'd wager that as a public record, there are marketing firms that have standing CPRA requests in to that office for the names and addresses of businesses that apply for licenses in the state, and absent some exclusion under GC 6254, the state would be legally obligated to release that information.

You may want to read that privacy policy again.

You cannot be a secret business in CA.

 

[pbminor]

And, even in the BOE's own literature, it indicates that under certain circumstances the information can be released to the public. I'd wager that as a public record, there are marketing firms that have standing CPRA requests in to that office for the names and addresses of businesses that apply for licenses in the state, and absent some exclusion under GC 6254, the state would be legally obligated to release that information.

You may want to read that privacy policy again.

You cannot be a secret business in CA.

According to the clerk at my local BOE, and the supervisor they consulted with, this should not be happening. I called the main office in Sacramento. The person there also consulted with their supervisor and I was told the same thing. Even the advocacy group says this should not be happening. So if it is happening, and it definitely should not be, then shouldn't it be fixed?
As far as the certain circumstances where info can be shared, all have stated no info is shared when it's a sole proprietorship.
So now I feel compelled to correct this, especially seeing it did, personally, cause problems before I found a way to go around it.
I'm just wanting to know the proper agency to contact about this matter.

 

[tranquility]

There is none. Nobody cares. There is not going to be an official investigation about what you suppose.

 

[CdwJava]

As tranq has suggested, there is not likely to be any serious investigation. There are a great number of avenues under which information can be obtained and proving that the information was released UNLAWFULLY from the BOE is not going to be an easy task ... and it might be impossible.

About all you can do is what you have done - make them aware of the issue, ask them to look into it, and see what happens. Absent that, what do you expect them to do? You're getting junk mail ... so are the rest of us.

 

[pbminor]

There is none. Nobody cares. There is not going to be an official investigation about what you suppose.

And therein lies the problem! People are telling me it can't happen, but yet it did. And I know this how? Because when it happened the first time, they had me convinced it never happened. So when I resolved my problem by closing out my seller's permit, I made sure to use a business name on my new seller's permit that had never been mentioned, to anyone, ever. Sure enough, I now get junk mail addressed to the new business name.
Just for clarification, a sole proprietor does not need a business license. This business name, that we chose to put on the application for a seller's permit, had just been made up that day. It was entered on the application SPECIFICALLY to see if we would be getting junk mail with that name. IMO, if this shouldn't be happening, then it needs to be fixed. And the BOE should be even more concerned about it than I am.

 

[tranquility]

The business license issue is a city/county thing, so that is very location dependent. I know that our clients in Southern California who are sole proprietorships have business licenses. You must be in venues different from them.

Oh, by the way, how is a vendor supposed to check to see if a permit if valid?

Info edit:
Just for fun, what does the BOE website say about information disclosure? Hmm...let me see:
http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqseller.htm

6. Is information regarding my account subject to disclosure?

Yes. While most of the information you provide to the Board is confidential, some is subject to public disclosure, such as the information on your seller's permit and the closeout date of your business, if applicable. Under certain conditions, your account information, including underreporting and outstanding liabilities, may be shared with the other government agencies.

Since I suspect your *name* would be on "your seller's permit", I'm uncertain as to your theory of illegality. Or that they should care. Maybe, it's that the OP didn't ask the right questions.

 

[CdwJava]

And local business licenses ARE public records subject to disclosure. So, if you have a business license, that information is out there.

Do you really think you can operate a secret business in any state? California has a very strong Public Records Act, and marketing/data mining firms take advantage of those regulations to gain access to any information they can legally use or sell.

 

[pbminor]

People are focusing on the wrong thing. I've done my research. Single owner. Does whatever he can to make an income. Pays his self employment taxes. Pays sales taxes on all required tangible goods that are sold. The research on all of that has been done and laws are being followed.
The point of my posts are that a privacy policy is being broken. The policy is there for a reason. All who I've spoken with at the Board of Equalization agree that this should not be happening. This is not my interpretation of the laws. These are BOE employees, who have consulted with their supervisors, who are telling me that personal information, such as name and address, of sole proprietors are NEVER released for marketing purposes. The only way this information can be obtained from a sole proprietor is directly from the seller's permit, which in my case, could not have happened. Our seller's permit, just like the business name we used on the application, has yet to be used for any purpose.
I not asking for help deciphering the laws.
I would like suggestions on how to follow this through? What agency I might contact? Someone suggested going to the news but I don't think it's that big of a deal. Just something that should be fixed. Maybe the only way to get it fixed is to make it a big deal?
This did effect me personally. I found a way around it, and hopefully, nothing will ever come of their mistake. However, I am sure that this breech has the potential to have a negative effect on others, otherwise they wouldn't have a privacy policy.

 

[tranquility]

People are focusing on the wrong thing. I've done my research. Single owner. Does whatever he can to make an income. Pays his self employment taxes. Pays sales taxes on all required tangible goods that are sold. The research on all of that has been done and laws are being followed.

What city are you in?

The point of my posts are that a privacy policy is being broken.

Then, it seems your "point" was wrong. (At least based on the information you're using to prove a violation. By the way, violation of what? Please show the "privacy policy" you keep referring to.

I not asking for help deciphering the laws.

You should have been asking that rather than insisting you have found a violation.

I would like suggestions on how to follow this through?

Follow through on WHAT? NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WRONG WITH WHAT HAPPENED. What part are you missing?

What agency I might contact?

None. Nothing seems wrong. (Well, you should contact your city to see if you need a business license.)

Someone suggested going to the news but I don't think it's that big of a deal. Just something that should be fixed. Maybe the only way to get it fixed is to make it a big deal?

I mentioned that before I spent a minute on google and found the BOE FAQ page which stated how the information on you permit is public.

This did effect me personally. I found a way around it, and hopefully, nothing will ever come of their mistake. However, I am sure that this breech has the potential to have a negative effect on others, otherwise they wouldn't have a privacy policy.

Again, where would we find this policy? (If found at the back page of http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/boe400spa.pdf, then I think the disclosure covers your name. Also, that form has numbers you can call [like the disclosure officer] if you have a problem.)

 

[pbminor]

What city are you in?
Then, it seems your "point" was wrong. (At least based on the information you're using to prove a violation. By the way, violation of what? Please show the "privacy policy" you keep referring to.
You should have been asking that rather than insisting you have found a violation.
Follow through on WHAT? NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WRONG WITH WHAT HAPPENED. What part are you missing?
None. Nothing seems wrong. (Well, you should contact your city to see if you need a business license.)
I mentioned that before I spent a minute on google and found the BOE FAQ page which stated how the information on you permit is public.
Again, where would we find this policy? (If found at the back page of http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/boe400spa.pdf, then I think the disclosure covers your name. Also, that form has numbers you can call [like the disclosure officer] if you have a problem.)

Here is the link to the privacy policy. http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/privacy.htm
If you read this information, along with the codes they quoted, and include the fact that several representatives of the Board of Equalization have told me that sole proprietors are treated differently in that NONE of their information is made available to the public, you may be able to understand my complaint. The only way the BOE information of a sole proprietor could have been disclosed to the public would have been by an action taken by the sole proprietor, such as using the seller's permit, getting a business license, opening a bank account, applying for a credit card, etc. This is per the BOE. NONE of this has occurred.
I have contacted my local BOE. They say this doesn't happen. I have contacted the Disclosure office in Sacramento.. They also say this doesn't happen but they did refer me to the Taxpayer's Rights Advocacy who is trying to determine who I should contact. I was asking for suggestions of the same from here.

 

[CdwJava]

Unless the BOE is going to look into the matter internally, you really have few options. The Attorney General is not likely to look into the reason you are getting junk mail. Heck, they just lost funding to pursue organized crime and narcotics trafficking, they won't have time to go after possible breaches of policy.

The local police will not even give this a second glance.

This is not a federal issue.

I'm not sure who else might even consider getting involved. You've already contacted the only agency that has the capability or the interest in looking into the matter.

Plus, as has been mentioned, if you have a local business license THAT is public record at the local level. I can go down the hall right now and find out the name of every business with a business license in the city limits ... and across the street to find out the names of all the businesses in the county. Those records are not under the auspices of the BOE and not subject to their rules and regulations. It's possible that if you have a local business license the information got out that way.

I'm curious ... how have you been harmed by receiving some junk mail? Have you attempted to contact those purveyors to see if they might tell you where they got your contact info?

 

[pbminor]

Unless the BOE is going to look into the matter internally, you really have few options. The Attorney General is not likely to look into the reason you are getting junk mail. Heck, they just lost funding to pursue organized crime and narcotics trafficking, they won't have time to go after possible breaches of policy.

The local police will not even give this a second glance.

This is not a federal issue.

I'm not sure who else might even consider getting involved. You've already contacted the only agency that has the capability or the interest in looking into the matter.

Plus, as has been mentioned, if you have a local business license THAT is public record at the local level. I can go down the hall right now and find out the name of every business with a business license in the city limits ... and across the street to find out the names of all the businesses in the county. Those records are not under the auspices of the BOE and not subject to their rules and regulations. It's possible that if you have a local business license the information got out that way.

I'm curious ... how have you been harmed by receiving some junk mail? Have you attempted to contact those purveyors to see if they might tell you where they got your contact info?

On the first Seller's Permit we used a business name that could have brought trouble to our home address (business address). I have cancelled that permit and obtained another one using a less controversial name. I'm hoping that our information from the original name will eventually fall off the marketing lists and will not be used to cause us trouble in the mean time. I did contact the one company we've gotten junk mail from so far (addressed to the new name). I was told they normally get it when someone opens a business checking acct. I told them none was open. They asked for the priority service code on the offer they sent me. From the priority code they were able to determine that my information was obtained from a marketing list that they purchased.
Thanks for the information. It's not so much the junk mail I'm concerned about now that we've changed our name. It's the fact that this shouldn't be happening and it has the potential to cause problems.
Also, we do not have a business license. We are not required to have one.

 

[CdwJava]

There are numerous ways to get this information from a variety of sources. Everything from financial filings, to DBA announcements, to registering for services, contracts, etc. All because they have it does not mean that the info came from the BOE.

You can ask them to look into it, but you are not going to get any other state agency to seriously investigate the matter at this point even if they might have some potential jurisdiction.

Just do what the rest of us do - throw away the junk mail.