HBA-KDB C.S.H.B. 1544 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1544 By: Uher State Affairs 4/12/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (Act) sets forth provisions for all states regarding the release and use of personal information from state motor vehicle records and prohibitions against the release and use of such information. One provision of the Act allows personal information, if an individual consents, to be made available for release to bulk distributors, marketing systems, researchers for statistical information, or employers or insurers of employers to obtain or verify information relating to a holder of a commercial driver's license. C.S.H.B. 1544 takes the provisions set forth by the Act a step further by eliminating the sale of records for such purposes and addresses enforcement of resale or redisclosure of personal information. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1544 amends the Transportation Code to modify provisions relating to the release of certain personal information from motor vehicle records and information relating to motor vehicle accident reports. The bill removes the provision that a magnetic tape provided to a purchaser of information is authorized to contain only the names, addresses, and dates of birth of individuals who have not prohibited the disclosure of personal information. The bill requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to impose and collect a fee of $10,000 for each magnetic tape of all personal driver's license information provided to an eligible purchaser and, if DPS provides a weekly update of the information on the tape, $200 for each update. The bill removes the provision that a purchaser of the information must agree to delete the name, address, and date of birth of an individual whose name is also included on the mail or telephone preference list maintained by a recognized trade association that is used to remove the name of an individual who has requested that the individual's name not be made available for solicitation purposes (Sec. 521.050). The bill adds, to the exceptions of information that DPS is prohibited from disclosing, the requirement that DPS provide any person eligible to receive such information a certified abstract of the record of conviction of a person for violation of a law relating to the operation of a motor vehicle or the record of any injury or damage caused by the person's operation of a motor vehicle (Sec. 521.052). The bill authorizes the release of the information if the requestor can provide two or more specified facts relating to an accident. The bill removes the provision requiring DPS or a governmental entity to request the information on a written form adopted by DPS or the entity to determine whether the person or entity requesting the information is entitled to receive the information. The bill increases from $4 to $10 or the actual cost of preparation, whichever is greater, the fee for a copy of the vehicle accident report or accident information. The bill increases from $2 to $5 the additional fee for the certification of the copy by DPS or another governmental entity. The bill increases from $4 to $10 the fee DPS or the governmental entity may assess for certifying that no report or information is on file (Sec. 550.065). The bill adds political subdivision to the definition of an "agency." The bill also excludes the accident report from the definition of "motor vehicle record," and excludes information contained in a report from the definition of "personal information" (Sec. 730.003). The bill deletes provisions that authorize the disclosure of personal information from motor vehicle records for use in connection with a matter involving motor vehicle market research activities, including survey research, for the purposes of use in research or in producing statistical reports under certain conditions, for use by an employer or an agent or insurer of the employer to obtain or verify information relating to a holder of a commercial driver's license, for the purpose of bulk distribution for surveys, marketing, or solicitations, and for any other purpose specifically authorized by law that relates to the operation of a motor vehicle or to public safety. The bill deletes the provision that authorizes disclosure of information for use by an employee or contractor of a business for the purpose of verifying personal information. The bill specifies that its provisions do not prohibit the disclosure of a person's photographic image to a law enforcement agency or a criminal justice agency for an official purpose, or prevent a court from compelling by subpoena the production of a person's photographic image. The bill requires personal information obtained by an agency in connection with a motor vehicle record to be disclosed to a requestor by an agency if the requestor provides the requestor's name and address and any proof of that information required by the agency and represents that the intent of the requestor is to use personal information in the motor vehicle record only for the purpose of preventing, detecting, or protecting against personal identity theft or other acts of fraud and provides any proof of the requestor's intent required by the agency ( Sec. 730.007). The bill prohibits an authorized recipient of personal information from reselling or redisclosing the personal information in the same or similar form the personal information was disclosed to the recipient by the applicable agency. The bill authorizes an authorized recipient of personal information to resell or redisclose the information only for the uses permitted by the provisions of permitted disclosure. The bill provides that it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $25,000 if a person violates the provisions regarding resale or redisclosure (Sec. 730.013). The bill provides that a person who is convicted of an offense under the Motor Vehicle Records Disclosure Act, or who violates a rule adopted by an agency relating to the terms or conditions for a release of personal information to the person, is ineligible to receive personal information. A person is considered to have been convicted in a case if a sentence is imposed, the defendant receives probation or deferred adjudication, or the court defers final disposition of the case (Sec. 730.016). The bill repeals provisions relating to agency notification to license holders, vehicle registrants and title holders, and identification card holders of the possible disclosure of individual records, requests to prohibit disclosure, and the disclosure on the Internet of personal information from motor vehicle records (Secs. 730.008 and 730.009 and Chapter 731). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1544 modifies the original to require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to impose and collect a fee of $10,000 for each magnetic tape of all personal driver's license information provided to an eligible purchaser and, if DPS provides a weekly update of the information on the tape, $200 for each update (Sec. 521.050). The substitute increases from $4 to $10 or the actual cost of preparation, whichever is greater, the fee for a copy of the vehicle accident report or accident information. The substitute increases from $2 to $5 the additional fee for the certification of the copy by DPS or another governmental entity. The bill increases from $4 to $10 the fee DPS or the governmental entity may assess for certifying that no report or information is on file (Sec. 550.065). The substitute removes provisions that authorize the disclosure of personal information from motor vehicle records for use in connection with a matter involving motor vehicle market research activities, including survey research, for the purposes of use in research or in producing statistical reports under certain conditions, for use by an employer or an agent or insurer of the employer to obtain or verify information relating to a holder of a commercial driver's license, and for any other purpose specifically authorized by law that relates to the operation of a motor vehicle or to public safety. The original only removed provisions that authorize the disclosure of such personal information only for the purposes of bulk distribution for surveys, marketing, or solicitations. The substitute removes the provision that authorizes disclosure of information for use by an employee or contractor of a business for the purpose of verifying personal information. The substitute requires personal information obtained by an agency in connection with a motor vehicle record to be disclosed to a requestor by an agency if the requestor provides the requestor's name and address and any proof of that information required by the agency and represents that the intent of the requestor is to use personal information in the motor vehicle record only for the purpose of preventing, detecting, or protecting against personal identity theft or other acts of fraud and provides any proof of the requestor's intent required by the agency (Sec. 730.007). The substitute prohibits an authorized recipient of personal information from reselling or redisclosing the personal information in the same or similar form the personal information was disclosed to the recipient by the applicable agency. The substitute modifies the original bill by providing that it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $25,000, rather than a Class A misdemeanor, if a person violates provisions regarding resale or redisclosure (Sec. 730.013).