H-1187.2          _______________________________________________

 

                                  HOUSE BILL 1774

                  _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

 

By Representatives Jacobsen, R. Fisher, Anderson, Appelwick, Nelson, Miller, Heavey, Pruitt, Jones, Ebersole, Inslee, Wineberry, Cooper, Rasmussen, Franklin, Roland and Leonard.

 

Read first time February 8, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.Creating a joint select committee on privacy and information technology.


     AN ACT Relating to the joint select committee on privacy and information technology; and creating new sections.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

     NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.      Washington's Constitution and statutes provide extensive protection against invasion of privacy.  However, the statutes that expand on the constitutional protections have not been reviewed for many years and there has been little review of invasion of privacy by private entities.  Both government agencies and private entities collect data about individuals and share that data with others.  Technology makes it easier to collect and disseminate this data.  It is the intent of this act to review existing law and data collection activities and to provide as much protection for individual privacy as is possible within an open, democratic society.

 

     NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.      (1) The joint select committee on privacy and information technology is created.  The committee shall have eight members, four to be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and four to be appointed by the president of the senate.  Not more than two members from each house shall be from the same political party.

     (2) The members of the committee shall elect a chair and vice-chair who shall be from different houses and different political parties.

     (3) Staff for the committee shall be provided by the senate and the house of representatives.

     (4) The committee shall invite members of the public to participate as ad hoc members of the committee.  To the greatest extent possible, the committee shall seek representatives from diverse groups, including law enforcement, private business, telecommunications companies, the media, higher education, state and local government, and public interest advocates.

     (5) The committee shall study:

     (a) The state's laws, policies, and procedures for protecting citizens from invasions of their privacy that may result from the collection, processing, use, or sharing of personally identifiable information, by the state or local units of government or by private entities, or from providing access to that information; and

     (b) Any other related issues.

     (6) The committee shall report, not later than December 1, 1991, its findings and recommendations to the appropriate standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate.

     (7) The committee shall expire January 31, 1992.