Improving Privacy: eFile implements AB 1785

eFile implements AB 1785 and improved privacy. eFile stays on top of changes in law and regulations.

Improving Privacy: eFile implements AB 1785
New Privacy Improvements in eFile's Form 700 Module

Assembly Bill 1785 (AB 1785), effective January 1, 2025, amends California Government Code § 7928.205 to enhance privacy protections for elected and appointed officials.​

Previously, state and local agencies were prohibited from posting an official's home address or telephone number online without their written consent. AB 1785 expands this restriction to also include the combination of an official's name and assessor parcel number linked to their home address.​

This change addresses concerns that publicly available assessor parcel numbers, when combined with an official's name, could be used to determine their home address, potentially compromising their privacy and safety.​

Impact on Publicly Available Form 700 Filings

The amendments introduced by AB 1785 do not alter the public's right to access Form 700 filings. However, they do require agencies to ensure that any such filings made available online do not include:​

  • The official's home address.​
  • Telephone number.​
  • A combination of the official's name and assessor parcel number associated with their home address.​

Agencies must obtain written permission from the official before posting any of this information online. This means that while Form 700 filings remain publicly accessible, they must be reviewed and, if necessary, redacted to comply with the new privacy protections.​

eFile's Implementation

On the public version of Form 700 filings, eFile has always redacted filer's address, phone number, and email on the Form 700 cover page. It also automatically redacts the names of individual renters on Schedule B (Real Property Investments) of public filings.

What's new is that filers can now check a box "Check if this is your home address. It will be redacted on the public version of this filing." on Schedule A-2 and B to indicate that a business or property address (or parcel number) is their home address. In this case, the address will be replaced with [REDACTED] on the public filing.

Here is an example from Schedule A-2:

Form 700, Schedule A-2, Address Field
Form 700, Schedule A-2 Address Field
Public version of Form 700, Schedule A-2 Address Field

With this enhancement, eFile is fully compliant with AB1785. This change has been rolled out to all eFile agencies and agencies can elect to have past public versions reprocessed with redacted addresses on Schedule A-2 and B.

About eFile

eFile is California's most modern, mobile-friendly electronic filings system. It is streamlining the public disclosure process through innovation and technology. eFile replaces legacy filing platforms by seamlessly importing historic filing data from NetFile and SouthTech/Grenicus.

Learn more about eFile on https://efile.systems or book a demo!