Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H5354 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2023 -- H 5354
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7	7	LC000589
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9	9	S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO COMMERCI AL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISION S -- RHODE
16	16	ISLAND DATA TRANSPAR ENCY AND PRIVACY PRO TECTION ACT
17	17	Introduced By: Representatives Shanley, Carson, Edwards, Craven, Bennett, Cotter,
18	18	Spears, Dawson, Vella-Wilkinson, and O'Brien
19	19	Date Introduced: February 03, 2023
20	20	Referred To: House Innovation, Internet, & Technology
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23	23	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
24	24	SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW - GENERAL 1
25	25	REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 2
26	26	CHAPTER 48.1 3
27	27	RHODE ISLAND DATA TRANSPARENCY AND PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT 4
28	28	6-48.1-1. Short title. 5
29	29	This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rhode Island Data Transparency and 6
30	30	Privacy Protection Act." 7
31	31	6-48.1-2. Legislative findings. 8
32	32	The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: 9
33	33	(1) The right to privacy is a personal and fundamental right protected by the United States 10
34	34	Constitution. As such, all individuals have a right to privacy in information pertaining to them. This 11
35	35	state recognizes the importance of providing consumers with transparency about how their 12
36	36	personally identifiable information, especially information relating to their children, is shared by 13
37	37	businesses. This transparency is crucial for Rhode Island citizens to protect themselves and their 14
38	38	families from cyber-crimes and identity thieves. 15
39	39	(2) Furthermore, for free market forces to have a role in shaping the privacy practices and 16
40	40	for "opt-in" and "opt-out" remedies to be effective, consumers must be more than vaguely informed 17
41	41	that a business might share personally identifiable information with third parties (as that term is 18
42	42
43	43
44	44	LC000589 - Page 2 of 6
45	45	hereinafter defined). Consumers must be better informed about what kinds of personally 1
46	46	identifiable information is shared with other businesses. With these specifics, consumers can 2
47	47	knowledgeably choose to opt-in, opt-out, or choose among businesses that disclose (as that term is 3
48	48	hereinafter defined) personally identifiable information to third parties on the basis of how 4
49	49	protective the business is of consumers' privacy. 5
50	50	(3) Businesses are now collecting personally identifiable information and disclosing it in 6
51	51	ways not contemplated or properly covered by the current law. Some websites are installing 7
52	52	tracking tools that record when consumers visit webpages, and sending personally identifiable 8
53	53	information, such as age, gender, race, income, health concerns, religion, and recent purchases to 9
54	54	third-party marketers and data brokers. Third-party data broker companies are buying and 10
55	55	disclosing personally identifiable information obtained from mobile phones, financial institutions, 11
56	56	social media sites, and other online and brick and mortar companies. Some mobile applications are 12
57	57	sharing personally identifiable information, such as location information, unique phone 13
58	58	identification numbers, age, gender, and other personal details with third-party companies. 14
59	59	(4) As such, consumers need to know the ways that their personally identifiable 15
60	60	information is being collected by companies and then shared or sold to third parties in order to 16
61	61	properly protect their privacy, personal safety, and financial security. 17
62	62	6-48.1-3. Definitions. 18
63	63	As used in this chapter: 19
64	64	(1) "Affiliate" means any entity that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is 20
65	65	under common control with, the entity that has disclosed personally identifiable information to it. 21
66	66	(2) "Customer" means an individual residing in this state who provides, either knowingly 22
67	67	or unknowingly, personally identifiable information to any entity, with or without an exchange of 23
68	68	consideration, in the course of purchasing, viewing, accessing, renting, leasing, or otherwise using 24
69	69	real or personal property, or any interest therein, or obtaining a product or service, including 25
70	70	advertising or any other content. 26
71	71	(3) "Disclose" means to sell, release, transfer, share, disseminate, make available, or 27
72	72	otherwise communicate orally, in writing, or by electronic means or any other means to any 28
73	73	individual or third party in exchange for anything of value. "Disclose" does not include the 29
74	74	following: 30
75	75	(i) Disclosure to an affiliate, provided that the affiliate does not disclose the personally 31
76	76	identifiable information to any third party; 32
77	77	(ii) Disclosure of personally identifiable information by any entity to a third party under a 33
78	78	written contract authorizing the third party to utilize the personally identifiable information to 34
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82	82	perform services on behalf of such entity, including maintaining or servicing accounts, providing 1
83	83	customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying customer information, 2
84	84	processing payments, providing financing, or similar services, but only if: 3
85	85	(A) The contract prohibits the third party from using the personally identifiable information 4
86	86	for any reason other than performing the specified service or services on behalf of such entity and 5
87	87	from disclosing any such personally identifiable information to additional third parties; and 6
88	88	(B) The entity effectively enforces these prohibitions; 7
89	89	(iii) Disclosure of personally identifiable information by a business to a third party based 8
90	90	on a good-faith belief that disclosure is required to comply with applicable law, regulation, legal 9
91	91	process, or court order; or 10
92	92	(iv) Disclosure of personally identifiable information by any entity to a third party that is 11
93	93	reasonably necessary to address fraud, security, or technical issues; to protect the disclosing entity's 12
94	94	rights or property; or to protect customers or the public from illegal activities as required or 13
95	95	permitted by law. 14
96	96	(4) "Operator" means any person or entity that owns a website located on the Internet or an 15
97	97	online service that collects and maintains personally identifiable information from a customer 16
98	98	residing in this state who uses or visits the website or online service if the website or online service 17
99	99	is operated for commercial purposes. It does not include any third party that operates, hosts, or 18
100	100	manages, but does not own, a website or online service on the owner's behalf or by processing 19
101	101	information on behalf of the owner. "Operator" does not include businesses having ten (10) or fewer 20
102	102	employees, or any third party that operates, hosts, or manages, but does not own, a website or online 21
103	103	service on the owner’s behalf or by processing information on behalf of the owner. 22
104	104	(5) "Personally identifiable information" or "personal information" means an individua l's 23
105	105	first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following data 24
106	106	elements, when the name and the data elements are not either encrypted or utilizing a protocol that 25
107	107	provides a higher degree of security or are in hard copy, paper format: 26
108	108	(i) Social security number; 27
109	109	(ii) Driver's license number, passport number, Rhode Island identification card number, or 28
110	110	tribal identification number; 29
111	111	(iii) Account number, credit or debit card number, in combination with any required 30
112	112	security code, access code, password, or personal identification number, that would permit access 31
113	113	to an individual's financial account; 32
114	114	(iv) Medical or health insurance information; 33
115	115	(v) Email address with any required security code, access code, or password that would 34
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119	119	permit access to an individual's personal, medical, insurance, or financial account; or 1
120	120	(vi) Biometric data. 2
121	121	(6) "Third party" means any entity that is a separate legal entity from the entity that has 3
122	122	disclosed the personally identifiable information; provided, however, that an affiliate of the entity 4
123	123	that has disclosed the personally identifiable information shall not be considered a third party. 5
124	124	6-48.1-4. Information sharing practices. 6
125	125	(a) An operator of a commercial website or online service that collects, stores and sells 7
126	126	categories of personally identifiable information through the Internet about individual customers 8
127	127	residing in this state who use or visit its commercial website or online service shall, in its customer 9
128	128	agreement or incorporated addendum or in another conspicuous location on its website or online 10
129	129	service platform where similar notices are customarily posted: 11
130	130	(1) Identify all categories of personally identifiable information that the operator collects 12
131	131	through the website or online service about individual customers who use or visit its commercial 13
132	132	website or online service; and 14
133	133	(2) Identify all third-party persons or entities with whom the operator may disclose that 15
134	134	personally identifiable information. 16
135	135	(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the collection, storage or 17
136	136	disclosure of information or data that is otherwise prohibited, restricted or regulated by state or 18
137	137	federal law. 19
138	138	6-48.1-5. Violations. 20
139	139	(a) A violation of this chapter constitutes a violation of the general regulatory provisions 21
140	140	of commercial law in title 6 and shall constitute a deceptive trade practice in violation of chapter 22
141	141	13.1 of title 6; provided further, that in the event that any individual or entity intentionally discloses 23
142	142	personally identifiable information: 24
143	143	(1) To a shell company or any entity that has been formed or established solely, or in part, 25
144	144	for the purposes of circumventing the intent of this chapter; 26
145	145	(2) To any third party that is not exempt pursuant to § 6-48.1-3; or 27
146	146	(3) In violation of any provision of this chapter, that individual or entity shall pay a fine of 28
147	147	not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and no more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each 29
148	148	such disclosure. 30
149	149	(b) The office of the attorney general shall have sole enforcement authority of the 31
150	150	provisions of this chapter and may enforce a violation of this chapter pursuant to: 32
151	151	(1) The provisions of this section; or 33
152	152	(2) General regulatory provisions of commercial law in title 6, or both. 34
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156	156	(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any private right of action to 1
157	157	enforce any provision of this chapter, any regulation hereunder, or any other provisions of 2
158	158	commercial law in title 6. 3
159	159	6-48.1-6. Waivers -- Severability. 4
160	160	Any waiver of the provisions of this chapter shall be void and unenforceable. If any 5
161	161	provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a court 6
162	162	of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions of applications of the 7
163	163	chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the 8
164	164	provisions of the chapter are severable. 9
165	165	6-48.1-7. Construction. 10
166	166	(a) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to apply in any manner to a financial institution 11
167	167	or an affiliate of a financial institution subject to Title V of the Federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 12
168	168	15 U.S.C. § 6801 et seq. and its implementing regulations, or to information or data subject to the 13
169	169	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Pub. L. 104-191; provided, 14
170	170	however, no entity or individual shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. 15
171	171	(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to a contractor, subcontractor, or 16
172	172	agent of a state agency or local unit of government when working for that state agency or local unit 17
173	173	of government. 18
174	174	(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to any entity recognized as a tax-19
175	175	exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code. 20
176	176	(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to mandate and/or require the retention or 21
177	177	disclosure of any specific individual's personally identifiable information. 22
178	178	(e) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit or restrict the dissemination or sale of product 23
179	179	sales summaries or statistical information or aggregate customer data which may include personally 24
180	180	identifiable information. 25
181	181	(f) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to any personally identifiable 26
182	182	information or any other information collected, used, processed, or disclosed by or for a consumer 27
183	183	reporting agency as defined by 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f). 28
184	184	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024. 29
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191	191	EXPLANATION
192	192	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
193	193	OF
194	194	A N A C T
195	195	RELATING TO COMMERCI AL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY P ROVISIONS -- RHODE
196	196	ISLAND DATA TRANSPAR ENCY AND PRIVACY PRO TECTION ACT
197	197	***
198	198	This act would require online service providers and commercial websites that collect, store 1
199	199	and sell personally identifiable information to disclose what categories of personally identifiable 2
200	200	information they collect and to what third parties they sell the information. This act would not 3
201	201	prohibit the collection or sale of personally identifiable information and would not require the 4
202	202	retention or disclosure of personally identifiable information by online service providers or 5
203	203	commercial websites. Any intentional disclosure of personal information in violation of the 6
204	204	provisions of this act would be punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor 7
205	205	more than five hundred dollars ($500) per disclosure with sole enforcement of its provisions vested 8
206	206	in the department of the attorney general. 9
207	207	This act would take effect on January 1, 2024. 10
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209	209	LC000589
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