HBA-JLV C.S.H.B. 2589 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2589
By: Hochberg
State Affairs
4/6/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

State agencies with budgets exceeding a certain amount are required to
maintain a generally accessible Internet site.  In addition to specified
information, such as budget, rules, and contracts, many sites also include
commonly requested information such as hearing announcements, program
descriptions, or publications.  Currently there is no requirement for a
state agency to post a notice stipulating the conditions of use for
information copied from a state agency Internet site.  Therefore some sites
post a privacy policy notice or disclaimer, while others do not.  Well-run
commercial Internet sites clearly state a policy of use, often referred to
as "terms of service."  A terms of service statement informs an individual
of the requirements regarding the use of information taken from an Internet
site.  C.S.H.B. 2589 requires the Department of Information Resources to
create a terms of service statement for state agency Internet sites. 

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. 2589 amends the Government Code to require the Department of
Information Resources (department) to adopt a policy that prescribes terms
under which a person may use, copy information from, or link to a generally
accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency, and which
protects the personal information of members of the public who access
information from or through a generally accessible Internet site maintained
by or for a state agency.  The bill requires the department to post the
policy on its Internet site.  All state agencies are required to
prominently post a link to the policy statement on a generally accessible
Internet site maintained by or for that agency.  

The bill requires that the policy include a statement:

 _generally allowing the use and reproduction of information on a state
agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission, subject to
specified conditions; 
 
 _generally allowing linking from any web page to any page on a state
agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission; 
 
 _prohibiting a state agency from charging a fee to access, use, reproduce
information on, or link to its Internet site except to the extent the state
agency is specifically authorized to do so by the legislature; 
 
 _requiring that the state agency's Internet site be credited as the source
of information reproduced from the site and requiring that the date that
the material was reproduced from the site be clearly stated; 
 
 _prohibiting a state agency from selling or releasing an e-mail address of
a member of the  public unless the member of the public affirmatively
consents to the sale or release of the e-mail address; and 
 
 _specifying other policies necessary to protect from public disclosure
personal information submitted by a member of the public to a state
agency's Internet site to the extent the information is confidential,
excepted from public disclosure, and protected by other law intended to
protect a person's privacy interests. 

The bill provides that the e- mail address of a member of the public that
is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a
governmental body is confidential and not subject to disclosure.  The bill
provides that confidential information that relates to a member of the
public may be disclosed if the member of the public affirmatively consents
to its release. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2589 modifies the original to conform to Texas Legislative Council
style and format.  The substitute requires the Department of Information
Resources (department) to protect the personal information, rather than the
identity, of members of the public who access information from or through a
generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency.