Bill Text: IL HB3251 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Creates the offense of illegal electronic monitoring in the statute concerning cyberstalking. Provides that a person commits illegal electronic monitoring when he or she knowingly installs, conceals, or otherwise places an electronic tracking software or spyware on an electronic communication device without the consent of all owners and primary users of the device for the purpose of monitoring or following the user or users of the software. Provides exceptions. Provides that a first violation is a Class 4 felony and a second or subsequent conviction is a Class 3 felony. Defines "electronic communication device" and "electronic tracking software or spyware".

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2017-08-18 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 100-0166 [HB3251 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB3251-Introduced.html


100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3251

Introduced , by Rep. Christine Winger

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/12-7.5

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Creates the offense of illegal electronic monitoring in the statute concerning cyberstalking. Provides that a person commits illegal electronic monitoring when he or she knowingly installs, conceals, or otherwise places an electronic tracking software or spyware on an electronic communication device without the consent of all owners and primary users of the device for the purpose of monitoring or following the user or users of the software. Provides exceptions. Provides that a first violation is a Class 4 felony and a second or subsequent conviction is a Class 3 felony. Defines "electronic communication device" and "electronic tracking software or spyware".
LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

HB3251LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1 AN ACT concerning criminal law.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
5Section 12-7.5 as follows:
6 (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
7 Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking and illegal electronic
8monitoring.
9 (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages
10in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
11at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
12would cause a reasonable person to:
13 (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
14 person; or
15 (2) suffer other emotional distress.
16 (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
17knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
18separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
19electronic communication and:
20 (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
21 future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
22 restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
23 a family member of that person; or

HB3251- 2 -LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1 (2) places that person or a family member of that
2 person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
3 bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
4 (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an
5 act by any person which would be a violation of this Code
6 directed towards that person or a family member of that
7 person.
8 (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
9knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
10maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to
11one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
12and which contains statements harassing another person and:
13 (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future
14 bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint,
15 where the threat is directed towards that person or a
16 family member of that person, or
17 (2) which places that person or a family member of that
18 person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
19 bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or
20 (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act
21 by any person which would be a violation of this Code
22 directed towards that person or a family member of that
23 person.
24 (a-10) Except as provided in subsection (c-5), a person
25commits illegal electronic monitoring when he or she knowingly
26installs, conceals, or otherwise places an electronic tracking

HB3251- 3 -LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1software or spyware on an electronic communication device
2without the consent of all owners and primary users of the
3device for the purpose of monitoring or following the user or
4users of the software.
5 (b) Sentence. Cyberstalking and illegal electronic
6monitoring is a Class 4 felony; a second or subsequent
7conviction is a Class 3 felony.
8 (c) For purposes of this Section:
9 (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
10 but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,
11 indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
12 method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,
13 surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
14 engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
15 with or damages a person's property or pet. The
16 incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
17 commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution
18 under this Section.
19 (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
20 signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
21 any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
22 radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
23 system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
24 through an electronic device including, but not limited to,
25 a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager, which
26 communication includes, but is not limited to, e-mail,

HB3251- 4 -LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1 instant message, text message, or voice mail.
2 (2.1) "Electronic communication device" means an
3 electronic device, including, but not limited to, a
4 wireless telephone, personal digital assistant, or a
5 portable or mobile computer, that is capable of
6 transmitting images or pictures.
7 (2.2) "Electronic tracking software or spyware" means
8 a computer program that tracks computer activity and is
9 capable of recording and transmitting the information to
10 third parties.
11 (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
12 suffering, anxiety or alarm.
13 (4) "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful
14 course of conduct directed at a specific person that
15 alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person.
16 (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
17 the victim that is initiated or continued without the
18 victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
19 physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
20 of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
21 public place or on private property; appearing at the
22 workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
23 remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
24 victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
25 to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
26 (5.1) "Person" does not include the manufacturer of the

HB3251- 5 -LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1 electronic software or spyware, or a retail mercantile
2 establishment as provided in paragraph (4) of subsection
3 (c-5) of this Section.
4 (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
5 circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the
6 defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
7 (7) "Third party" means any person other than the
8 person violating these provisions and the person or persons
9 towards whom the violator's actions are directed.
10 (c-5) It is not a violation of this Section:
11 (1) if the installing, concealing, or placing of
12 electronic tracking software or spyware on an electronic
13 communication device is by, or at the direction of, a peace
14 officer in furtherance of a criminal investigation and is
15 carried out in accordance with applicable State and federal
16 law;
17 (2) if the installing, concealing, or placing of
18 electronic tracking software or spyware on an electronic
19 communication device is by, or at the direction of, a
20 parent or legal guardian who owns the device, and if the
21 device is used solely for the purpose of monitoring the
22 minor child of the parent or legal guardian when the child
23 is the user of the device;
24 (3) if the electronic tracking software or spyware was
25 installed by the manufacturer of the electronic
26 communication device; or

HB3251- 6 -LRB100 10504 RLC 20719 b
1 (4) for a retail mercantile establishment, as defined
2 in Section 16-0.1 of this Code, to track the location of
3 customers within its establishment for commercial
4 purposes.
5 (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service
6providers, and providers of information services, including,
7but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
8service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
9for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
10transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
11or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
12related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
13information services used by others in violation of this
14Section.
15 (e) A defendant who directed the actions of a third party
16to violate this Section, under the principles of accountability
17set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty of violating
18this Section as if the same had been personally done by the
19defendant, without regard to the mental state of the third
20party acting at the direction of the defendant.
21(Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 96-686, eff. 1-1-10;
2296-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-303, eff.
238-11-11; 97-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)
feedback