BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1215

By: McClendon

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Recently, there has been a lot of publicity about tactics used by criminals to obtain personal financial data without the victim being aware at the time that the personal information is being stolen. The use of sophisticated electronic and digital equipment and telephoto lenses has become so widespread that these devices can be accessed and used by almost anyone in public without detection to photograph or copy information from a person's check, ATM card, credit card, or debit card who is paying for goods or services or conducting financial transactions. For instance, a person standing close enough to another person in a store checkout line could use a cell phone and surreptitiously take a photo of the person's credit or debit card or check. Some criminals install devices near or on an ATM machine to retrieve or capture information from the customer's use of an ATM card without the customer's knowledge and consent, thus compromising the integrity of the customer's account with the financial institution.

The purpose of H.B. 1215 is to protect people from identity theft by prohibiting the use of a device to capture personal information from a person's check or similar financial sight order, credit card, or debit card without that person's permission.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1215 amends the Penal Code to create the offense of unauthorized acquisition or transfer of certain financial information.  The bill makes it a Class B misdemeanor for a person to obtain the financial sight order or payment card information of another by use of an electronic, photographic, visual imaging, recording, or other device capable of accessing, reading, recording, capturing, copying, imaging, scanning, reproducing, or storing in any manner the financial sight order or payment card information, knowing that the person is not entitled to obtain or possess the financial information.  The bill makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to transfer to a third party a financial sight order or payment card information obtained in that manner, knowing that the person is not entitled to obtain or possess the information.  The bill specifies that if conduct constituting the offense of unauthorized acquisition or transfer of certain financial information also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be prosecuted under either law.

H.B. 1215 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a peace officer to whom an alleged violation of unauthorized acquisition or transfer of certain financial information is reported to make a written report to the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer that includes the name of the victim, the name of the suspect if known, the type of financial sight order or payment card information obtained or transferred in the violation, and the results of any investigation.  The bill requires the law enforcement agency, on the victim's request, to provide the report to the victim and in doing so, to redact any otherwise confidential information that is included in the report, other than the information required by the bill's provisions.

H.B. 1215 authorizes an offense of unauthorized acquisition or transfer of certain financial information to be prosecuted in any county in which the offense was committed or in the county of residence of the person whose financial sight order or payment card information was unlawfully obtained or transferred.

H.B. 1215 amends the Penal Code to define "financial sight order or payment card information," provides for the meaning of "credit card" and "debit card" by reference to the Penal Code, and provides for the meaning of "check" by reference to the Business & Commerce Code.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011.