(a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 5111 of the SAFE Act, the requirements under any federal law or 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) regarding the privacy or confidentiality of any information or material provided to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry, and any privilege arising under federal or state law, including the rules of any state court, with respect to that information or material, shall continue to apply to the information or material after the information or material has been disclosed to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry. The information and material may be shared with all state and federal regulatory officials with industry oversight authority without the loss of privilege or the loss of confidentiality protections provided by federal law or the Information Practices Act of 1977.
(b) Information or material that is subject to a privilege or confidentiality under subdivision (a) shall not be subject to either of the following:
(1) Disclosure under any federal or state law governing the disclosure to the public of information held by an officer or an agency of the federal government or the state.
(2) Subpoena or discovery, or admission into evidence, in any private civil action or administrative process, unless with respect to any privilege held by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry with respect to the information or material, the person to whom the information or material pertains waives, in whole or in part, in the discretion of that person, that privilege.
(c) This section shall not apply with respect to the information or material relating to the employment history of, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions included in, the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry for access by the public.
(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 792, Sec. 1. (AB 39) Effective January 1, 2024.)