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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT STUDY REQUEST NO. 4
BY REPRESENTATIVE BROADWATER
PAWNBROKERS: Requests study of federal implications relative to the electronic
transmission of consumers' personally identifiable information to law enforcement
A CONCURRENT STUDY REQUEST1
To the House Committee on Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce,2
Consumer Protection, and International Affairs to meet and to function as a joint3
committee to study federal implications relative to pawnbrokers and the electronic4
transmission of consumers' personally identifiable information to law enforcement,5
and to report the findings of the joint committee to the legislature prior to the6
convening of the 2015 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.7
WHEREAS, R.S. 37:1796 requires every pawnbroker to maintain a permanent record8
of all transactions of things pledged on the pawnshop premises, and the information required9
to be maintained is both the personally identifiable information and the transactional10
information for each pawn transaction; and11
WHEREAS, R.S. 37:1798 requires every pawnbroker to provide all transactional12
information as required to be obtained by R.S. 37:1796; and13
WHEREAS, the transactional information required to be maintained in R.S. 37:179614
is also required to be provided to the chief of police of the city or town in which the15
pawnbroker is doing business, or to the sheriff of the parish in which the pawnbroker is16
doing business, on a daily basis, by the end of the next business day, or on a less frequent17
basis as is required by the chief of police or sheriff; and18
WHEREAS, R.S. 37:1796 requires the transactional information to be electronically19
transmitted, if the pawnbroker has the means available to make transmissions in electronic20 HLS 14RS-5146 ORIGINAL
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form via a system which makes solely transactional information available for transmission;1
and2
WHEREAS, for purposes of an investigation of a crime relating to a particular pawn3
transaction, R.S. 37:1798 requires the pawnbroker to mail or fax the requesting official the4
personally identifiable information relating to such transaction under investigation; and5
WHEREAS, present law of R.S. 37:1798 does not authorize pawnbrokers to transmit6
requested personally identifiable information through any electronic method; and7
WHEREAS, the office of financial institutions designates pawnshops as non-8
depository financial institutions; and9
WHEREAS, pawnbrokers are governed by all of the major federal laws that apply10
to entities designated as financial institutions; and11
WHEREAS, pawnbrokers are required to comply with the provisions of the federal12
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 United States Code, Section 6801 et seq. (1999) and the13
applicable implementing federal Privacy of Consumer Information regulations, as adopted14
by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 12 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 4015
(2001); the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 12 Code of Federal16
Regulations, Part 216 (2001); the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 12 Code of17
Federal Regulations, Part 332 (2001); the Office of Thrift Supervision, 12 Code of Federal18
Regulations, Part 573 (2001); the National Credit Union Administration, 12 Code of Federal19
Regulations, Part 716 (2001); the Federal Trade Commission, 16 Code of Federal20
Regulations, Part 313 (2001); or the Securities and Exchange Commission, 17 Code of21
Federal Regulations, Part 248 (2001), if the pawnbroker is a financial institution as defined22
in those regulations; and23
WHEREAS, pawn transactions are the only type of consumer credit that require24
reporting to local law enforcement agencies and in many states, including Louisiana, this25
reporting is required daily and may include extremely sensitive personally identifiable26
information about the consumer (i.e. ethnicity, gender, address); and27
WHEREAS, much of this information qualifies as "nonpublic personal information"28
under federal privacy law and is entitled to protection as such; and29 HLS 14RS-5146 ORIGINAL
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WHEREAS, fundamentally, this is why pawnbrokers are required to comply with1
federal laws and regulations relative to privacy and protection of consumers' personally2
identifiable information; however, there are some states within the United States that3
authorize pawnbrokers to electronically transmit consumers' personally identifiable4
information to law enforcement; and5
WHEREAS, this raises the question as to whether pawnbrokers' electronic6
transmission of consumers' personally identifiable information is necessarily a breach of the7
federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and other federal regulations implicating privacy and8
protection of consumer information.9
THEREFORE, the Legislature of Louisiana requests the House Committee on10
Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International11
Affairs to meet and to function as a joint committee to study federal implications relative to12
pawnbrokers and the electronic transmission of consumers' personally identifiable13
information to law enforcement.14
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in undertaking the study and issuing15
recommendations, the joint committee may request documents or data, conduct public16
hearings, hear the testimony of witnesses, and determine whether there has been any17
litigation relative to pawnbrokers' electronic transmission of consumers' personally18
identifiable information, and take any other actions that it deems necessary to carry out its19
functions.20
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House Committee on Commerce and the21
Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs shall22
report the findings of the joint committee to the full legislature prior to the convening of the23
2015 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.24 HLS 14RS-5146 ORIGINAL
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DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Broadwater HCSR No. 4
Requests the House Committee on Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce,
Consumer Protection, and International Affairs to identify and study the following:
(1)Federal implications relative to the electronic transmission of consumers' personally
identifiable information to law enforcement.
(2)Whether pawnbrokers' electronic transmission of consumers' personally identifiable
information is necessarily a breach of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and other
federal regulations implicating privacy and protection of consumer information.
(3)Any litigation relative to pawnbrokers' electronic transmission of consumers'
personally identifiable information to law enforcement.