Bill Text: IL HB5454 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Personal Information Protection Act. Provides protections for social media users and creates a private cause of action for them if their accounts have been hacked and not restored by social media websites under certain circumstances. Defines a social media website as an Internet website or mobile application that enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, or images; is open to the public; has more than 75 million subscribers; and has never been specifically affiliated with any religion or political party. Provides that, if a court finds that a social media website has violated this Act, the court may award actual damages computed at a rate of $1,000 per violation per day and reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in maintaining that civil action. Requires the social media website to restore access to the user's online account within 24 hours of the discovery of the security breach; provide notice of the breach of security within seven days of the discovery; and provide instructions for restoring the integrity of the user's online account of a social media website in compliance with this Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5454 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5454-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB5454 Introduced , by Rep. Carol Ammons SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
815 ILCS 530/5
815 ILCS 530/10
815 ILCS 530/60 new
Amends the Personal Information Protection Act. Provides protections for social media users and creates a private cause of action for them if their accounts have been hacked and not restored by social media websites under certain circumstances. Defines a social media website as an Internet website or mobile application that enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, or images; is open to the public; has more than 75 million subscribers; and has never been specifically affiliated with any religion or political party. Provides that, if a court finds that a social media website has violated this Act, the court may award actual damages computed at a rate of $1,000 per violation per day and reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in maintaining that civil action. Requires the social media website to restore access to the user's online account within 24 hours of the discovery of the security breach; provide notice of the breach of security within seven days of the discovery; and provide instructions for restoring the integrity of the user's online account of a social media website in compliance with this Act.
LRB103 36595 JRC 66704 b
A BILL FOR
HB5454 LRB103 36595 JRC 66704 b
AN ACT concerning civil actions.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Personal Information Protection Act is
amended by changing Sections 5 and 10 and by adding Section 60
as follows:
(815 ILCS 530/5)
Sec. 5. Definitions. In this Act:
"Data collector" may include, but is not limited to,
government agencies, public and private universities,
privately and publicly held corporations, financial
institutions, retail operators, and any other entity that, for
any purpose, handles, collects, disseminates, or otherwise
deals with nonpublic personal information.
"Breach of the security of the system data" or "breach"
means unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that
compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of
personal information maintained by the data collector. "Breach
of the security of the system data" does not include good faith
acquisition of personal information by an employee or agent of
the data collector for a legitimate purpose of the data
collector, provided that the personal information is not used
for a purpose unrelated to the data collector's business or

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subject to further unauthorized disclosure.
"Health insurance information" means an individual's
health insurance policy number or subscriber identification
number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to
identify the individual, or any medical information in an
individual's health insurance application and claims history,
including any appeals records.
"Medical information" means any information regarding an
individual's medical history, mental or physical condition, or
medical treatment or diagnosis by a healthcare professional,
including such information provided to a website or mobile
application.
"Personal information" means either of the following:
(1) An individual's first name or first initial and
last name in combination with any one or more of the
following data elements, when either the name or the data
elements are not encrypted or redacted or are encrypted or
redacted but the keys to unencrypt or unredact or
otherwise read the name or data elements have been
acquired without authorization through the breach of
security:
(A) Social Security number.
(B) Driver's license number or State
identification card number.
(C) Account number or credit or debit card number,
or an account number or credit card number in

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combination with any required security code, access
code, or password that would permit access to an
individual's financial account.
(D) Medical information.
(E) Health insurance information.
(F) Unique biometric data generated from
measurements or technical analysis of human body
characteristics used by the owner or licensee to
authenticate an individual, such as a fingerprint,
retina or iris image, or other unique physical
representation or digital representation of biometric
data.
(2) User name or email address, in combination with a
password or security question and answer that would permit
access to an online account, when either the user name or
email address or password or security question and answer
are not encrypted or redacted or are encrypted or redacted
but the keys to unencrypt or unredact or otherwise read
the data elements have been obtained through the breach of
security.
"Personal information" does not include publicly available
information that is lawfully made available to the general
public from federal, State, or local government records.
"Social media website" means an Internet website or mobile
application that enables users to communicate with each other
by posting information, comments, messages, or images, and

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that meets the following criteria: is open to the public; has
more than 75,000,000 subscribers; and has never been
specifically affiliated with any religion or political party.
(Source: P.A. 99-503, eff. 1-1-17.)
(815 ILCS 530/10)
Sec. 10. Notice of breach; notice to Attorney General.
(a) Any data collector that owns or licenses personal
information concerning an Illinois resident shall notify the
resident at no charge that there has been a breach of the
security of the system data following discovery or
notification of the breach. The disclosure notification shall
be made in the most expedient time possible and without
unreasonable delay, consistent with any measures necessary to
determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable
integrity, security, and confidentiality of the data system.
The disclosure notification to an Illinois resident shall
include, but need not be limited to, information as follows:
(1) With respect to personal information as defined in
Section 5 in paragraph (1) of the definition of "personal
information":
(A) the toll-free numbers and addresses for
consumer reporting agencies;
(B) the toll-free number, address, and website
address for the Federal Trade Commission; and
(C) a statement that the individual can obtain

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information from these sources about fraud alerts and
security freezes.
(2) With respect to personal information defined in
Section 5 in paragraph (2) of the definition of "personal
information", notice may be provided in electronic or
other form directing the Illinois resident whose personal
information has been breached to promptly change his or
her user name or password and security question or answer,
as applicable, or to take other steps appropriate to
protect all online accounts for which the resident uses
the same user name or email address and password or
security question and answer.
The notification shall not, however, include information
concerning the number of Illinois residents affected by the
breach.
(b) Any data collector that maintains or stores, but does
not own or license, computerized data that includes personal
information that the data collector does not own or license
shall notify the owner or licensee of the information of any
breach of the security of the data immediately following
discovery, if the personal information was, or is reasonably
believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person. In
addition to providing such notification to the owner or
licensee, the data collector shall cooperate with the owner or
licensee in matters relating to the breach. That cooperation
shall include, but need not be limited to, (i) informing the

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owner or licensee of the breach, including giving notice of
the date or approximate date of the breach and the nature of
the breach, and (ii) informing the owner or licensee of any
steps the data collector has taken or plans to take relating to
the breach. The data collector's cooperation shall not,
however, be deemed to require either the disclosure of
confidential business information or trade secrets or the
notification of an Illinois resident who may have been
affected by the breach.
(b-5) The notification to an Illinois resident required by
subsection (a) of this Section may be delayed if an
appropriate law enforcement agency determines that
notification will interfere with a criminal investigation and
provides the data collector with a written request for the
delay. However, the data collector must notify the Illinois
resident as soon as notification will no longer interfere with
the investigation.
(c) For purposes of this Section, notice to consumers may
be provided by one of the following methods:
(1) written notice;
(2) electronic notice, if the notice provided is
consistent with the provisions regarding electronic
records and signatures for notices legally required to be
in writing as set forth in Section 7001 of Title 15 of the
United States Code; or
(3) substitute notice, if the data collector

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demonstrates that the cost of providing notice would
exceed $250,000 or that the affected class of subject
persons to be notified exceeds 500,000, or the data
collector does not have sufficient contact information.
Substitute notice shall consist of all of the following:
(i) email notice if the data collector has an email
address for the subject persons; (ii) conspicuous posting
of the notice on the data collector's web site page if the
data collector maintains one; and (iii) notification to
major statewide media or, if the breach impacts residents
in one geographic area, to prominent local media in areas
where affected individuals are likely to reside if such
notice is reasonably calculated to give actual notice to
persons whom notice is required.
(d) Notwithstanding any other subsection in this Section,
a data collector that maintains its own notification
procedures as part of an information security policy for the
treatment of personal information and is otherwise consistent
with the timing requirements of this Act, shall be deemed in
compliance with the notification requirements of this Section
if the data collector notifies subject persons in accordance
with its policies in the event of a breach of the security of
the system data.
(e)(1) This subsection does not apply to data collectors
that are covered entities or business associates and are in
compliance with Section 50.

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(2) Any data collector required to issue notice pursuant
to this Section to more than 500 Illinois residents as a result
of a single breach of the security system shall provide notice
to the Attorney General of the breach, including:
(A) A description of the nature of the breach of
security or unauthorized acquisition or use.
(B) The number of Illinois residents affected by such
incident at the time of notification.
(C) Any steps the data collector has taken or plans to
take relating to the incident.
Such notification must be made in the most expedient time
possible and without unreasonable delay but in no event later
than when the data collector provides notice to consumers
pursuant to this Section. If the date of the breach is unknown
at the time the notice is sent to the Attorney General, the
data collector shall send the Attorney General the date of the
breach as soon as possible.
Upon receiving notification from a data collector of a
breach of personal information, the Attorney General may
publish the name of the data collector that suffered the
breach, the types of personal information compromised in the
breach, and the date range of the breach.
(f) In accordance with federal law, any business that
operates a social media website shall, within 24 hours of
discovery of a breach of security to a user whose online
account or personal information was, or is reasonably believed

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to have been, accessed by an unauthorized person, determine
the scope of the breach of security and restore the reasonable
integrity of, and access to, the online account to the user.
Any discovery of breach of security shall be documented in
writing by the business that operates the social media website
and retained for 5 years.
(g) Within 7 days of the discovery of the breach of
security to a user's account, the business that operates the
social media website shall provide clear and conspicuous
notice delivered to the user through the email and mobile
phone number that was associated with the online account prior
to the breach of security.
(h) The business that operates the social media website
shall include within the notification instructions that
directs the customer whose online account has been breached to
promptly change any password and security question or answer,
as applicable, and to take other appropriate steps to protect
and restore the integrity of the online account of the social
media website.
(i) The Department of Innovation and Technology may
promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate this
subsection.
(Source: P.A. 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 101-343, eff. 1-1-20.)
(815 ILCS 530/60 new)
Sec. 60. Private cause of action for violation of this Act

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by a business operating a social media website.
(a) Any user of a social media website may bring an action
in any court of competent jurisdiction following the discovery
of a breach of security by the business that operates the
social media website, if the user:
(1) has not had access restored to the user's online
account within 24 hours of the discovery of the security
breach as required by this Act;
(2) has not been provided notice of the breach of
security within seven days of such discovery, as required
by this Act; or
(3) has not been provided instructions for restoring
the integrity of the user's online account of a social
media website in compliance with this Act.
(b) If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a
social media website has violated this Section, the court may
award actual damages computed at a rate of $1,000 per
violation per day and reasonable attorney's fees and costs
incurred in maintaining that civil action.
(c) This private right of action authorized pursuant to
this Section does not supplant any other claim or cause of
action available to a customer under common law or by statute.
The provisions of this subsection are in addition to any other
common law and statutory remedies.
(d) Nothing in this Section may be construed as creating a
private right of action against the State or any political

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