BILL REQ. #:  H-3524.1 

Read first time 01/10/2006.   Referred to Committee on Technology, Energy & Communications.

     AN ACT Relating to identification documents; adding new sections to chapter 19.192 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) The right to privacy is a personal and fundamental right protected by Article 1, section 7 of the Washington state Constitution and by the United States Constitution. All individuals have a right of privacy in information pertaining to them.
     (2) Easy access to the information found on drivers' licenses and other similar identification documents facilitates the crime of identity theft, a crime that is a major concern in Washington.
     (3) Washington has previously recognized the importance of protecting the confidentiality and privacy of an individual's personal information contained in identification documents such as drivers' licenses.
     (4) The inclusion in identification documents of contactless integrated circuits or other devices that broadcast data or enable data to be scanned secretly and remotely will greatly magnify the potential risk to individual privacy, safety, and economic well-being that can occur from unauthorized interception and use of personal information. The inclusion of those devices will also make it possible for any person or entity with access to a reader to engage in the secret tracking of Washingtonians on an unprecedented scale.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 19.192 RCW to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency" includes all state agencies and all local agencies.
     (2) "Contactless integrated circuit" means a data carrying unit, such as an integrated circuit or computer chip that can be read remotely.
     (3) "Identification document" means any document or device containing personal information that an individual uses alone or in conjunction with other information to establish his or her identity. Identification documents specifically include, but are not limited to, the following:
     (a) Drivers' licenses or identicards;
     (b) Identification cards for employees or contractors;
     (c) Identification cards issued by educational institutions;
     (d) Health insurance or benefit cards;
     (e) Benefit cards issued in conjunction with any government-supported aid program;
     (f) Licenses, certificates, registration, or other similar documents issued by the department of licensing or necessary to engage in a regulated business or profession; and
     (g) Library cards issued by any public library.
     (4) "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency.
     (5) "Personal information" includes any of the following: An individual's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, photograph, fingerprint or other biometric image of the individual, social security number, or any other personal identifier or number.
     (6) "Remotely" means that no physical contact between the integrated circuit or device and a reader is necessary in order to transmit data.
     (7) "State agency" includes every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency.
     (8) "Unique identifier number" means a number associated with the identification document, but not otherwise related to the individual which the document identifies. A unique identifier number may not be based on the individual's social security number or any other personal identifier associated with the individual.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 19.192 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) No identification document created, mandated, or issued by any state or local agency shall contain a contactless integrated circuit or other device that can broadcast personal information or enable personal information to be scanned remotely.
     (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in the following circumstances:
     (a) The identification document is to be given to:
     (i) A person who is incarcerated in the state prison or a county jail, detained in a juvenile facility, or housed in a mental health facility, pursuant to a court order after having been charged with a crime, or to a person pursuant to court-ordered electronic monitoring;
     (ii) A driver for use on a toll road or bridge for the specific purpose of collecting funds for the use of that road or bridge; or
     (iii) A patient who is in the care of a government-operated hospital, ambulatory surgery center, or oncology or dialysis clinic, and the identification document is valid for only a single episode of care and is removed from the patient at the time the patient is discharged, with a new unique identifier number being assigned if the patient returns for a new episode of care;
     (b) The identification document does not contain, transmit, or enable the remote scanning of any personal information other than an encrypted unique identifier number;
     (c) The identification document shall use technology to resist cloning and spoofing; and
     (d) Except for documents described in (a)(i) of this subsection, the issuing entity shall communicate in writing to the person to whom the identification document is issued all of the following:
     (i) That the identification document contains a circuit or device that can broadcast a unique identifier number or enable that number to be scanned remotely without his or her knowledge;
     (ii) That countermeasures, such as shield devices, may be used to help one control the risk that his or her unique identifier number will be broadcast or scanned remotely without his or her knowledge; and
     (iii) The types of locations of all scanners and readers used or intended to be used by the issuing authority or by any other entity known to that authority to read the unique identifier number on the identification document.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 19.192 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) No person or entity shall use radio waves to remotely scan or attempt to remotely scan a person's identification document without the knowledge of that person.
     (2) A person or entity who violates this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
     (3) Any person who, directly or by means of a detective agency or any other agent, violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to legal action for damages, to be brought by a person claiming that his or her identification document was scanned. A person so injured shall be entitled to actual damages, including mental pain and suffering endured by him or her on account of violation of the provisions of this section, or liquidated damages computed at the rate of one hundred dollars a day for each day of violation, not to exceed one thousand dollars, and a reasonable attorneys' fee and other costs of litigation.