By Nelson, et al. S.B. No. 867 77R6396 JRD-D A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the creation, operation, and duties of a joint interim 1-3 task force to study various issues affecting personal privacy. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. TASK FORCE ON PERSONAL PRIVACY. (a) The 1-6 lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of representatives 1-7 shall establish a joint interim task force to study issues 1-8 identified by this Act that affect personal privacy. 1-9 (b) The lieutenant governor and the speaker shall each 1-10 appoint five members to the task force. 1-11 (c) The task force shall elect a presiding officer and 1-12 assistant presiding officer from among its members. 1-13 (d) The task force shall meet at the times and places within 1-14 the state that the task force designates. The task force shall 1-15 develop and implement policies that provide the public with a 1-16 reasonable opportunity to appear before the task force and to speak 1-17 on any issue being studied by the task force. 1-18 (e) A legislative entity shall assist the task force at the 1-19 request of the lieutenant governor or the speaker, and a state 1-20 agency in the executive branch of state government shall assist the 1-21 task force at the request of the task force. 1-22 (f) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the 1-23 size or composition of the task force or of the advisory committee 1-24 created under Section 2 of this Act. 2-1 SECTION 2. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The task force shall 2-2 appoint an advisory committee to assist it in performing its 2-3 duties. 2-4 (b) The advisory committee consists of the number of members 2-5 that the task force considers advisable. The task force shall 2-6 appoint an approximately equal number of members from the public 2-7 and private sectors. Public-sector appointments must include 2-8 representatives from state agencies such as the office of the 2-9 comptroller, the office of the governor, the office of the attorney 2-10 general, the office of the state auditor, the Department of 2-11 Information Resources, the Texas Department of Banking, and the 2-12 Health and Human Services Commission. Private-sector appointments 2-13 must include individuals involved in fields such as banking, 2-14 marketing, the news media, medicine, and information technology. 2-15 The advisory committee must include members who understand the 2-16 implications that advances in information technology have for 2-17 personal privacy. 2-18 SECTION 3. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING AND PROPOSED LAW. (a) The 2-19 task force shall identify and analyze existing and proposed privacy 2-20 statutes and rules of this state, other states, and the federal 2-21 government. In performing an analysis under this subsection, the 2-22 task force shall address the extent to which the existing or 2-23 proposed privacy statutes and rules: 2-24 (1) benefit individuals; 2-25 (2) impose financial, efficiency, or lost opportunity 2-26 costs on governmental entities or private businesses; and 2-27 (3) benefit commerce or benefit governmental 3-1 effectiveness or efficiency by creating an environment in which 3-2 individuals are more likely to willingly divulge information about 3-3 themselves. 3-4 (b) The task force shall identify and analyze other existing 3-5 and proposed statutes and rules of this state, other states, and 3-6 the federal government with respect to the manner in which the 3-7 statutes and rules affect individual privacy. In performing an 3-8 analysis under this subsection, the task force shall address the 3-9 extent to which existing or proposed statutes and rules that affect 3-10 individual privacy: 3-11 (1) impose burdens on individuals, adversely affect 3-12 individuals' lives, or contravene commonly held expectations of 3-13 individual privacy; 3-14 (2) benefit governmental entities or private 3-15 businesses with respect to increased revenues or financial gain, 3-16 increased efficiency, or increased opportunities; and 3-17 (3) affect commerce or affect governmental 3-18 effectiveness or efficiency by creating an environment in which 3-19 individuals become less likely to willingly divulge information 3-20 about themselves. 3-21 (c) The office of the attorney general shall coordinate with 3-22 and assist the task force in performing legal analyses under this 3-23 section. 3-24 SECTION 4. STUDY REGARDING CONSENT TO DISCLOSURE. (a) In 3-25 this section, "personal information" means information about an 3-26 individual such as: 3-27 (1) the individual's address, telephone number, social 4-1 security number, date of birth, physical characteristics, and 4-2 similar information about the individual; 4-3 (2) information about an individual's marital status 4-4 or history, whether the individual has family members, and 4-5 information about the individual's family members; and 4-6 (3) personally identifiable information about the 4-7 individual's health or health history, finances or financial 4-8 history, and consumer history. 4-9 (b) The task force shall conduct a study regarding the 4-10 advantages, disadvantages, and feasibility of requiring by law in 4-11 various circumstances that certain personal information may be 4-12 released by a governmental entity or a private business only with 4-13 the prior informed consent of the individual. 4-14 SECTION 5. The task force shall report the results of its 4-15 study and its recommendations to the lieutenant governor and the 4-16 speaker by not later than November 1, 2002. The task force shall 4-17 include in its report its conclusions regarding the advisability of 4-18 enacting legislation with respect to each of the topics that the 4-19 task force studied. 4-20 SECTION 6. The task force and advisory committee are 4-21 abolished and this Act expires September 1, 2003. 4-22 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 4-23 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 4-24 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this 4-25 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 4-26 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.