Bill Text: NH HB384 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Prohibiting the sharing of location data.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 6-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-13 - Inexpedient to Legislate, Motion Adopted, Voice Vote === BILL KILLED ===; 05/13/2021; Senate Journal 15 [HB384 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2021-HB384-Amended.html

HB 384-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

 

8Apr2021... 0155h

2021 SESSION

21-0478

04/10

 

HOUSE BILL 384-FN

 

AN ACT prohibiting the sharing of location data.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Wuelper, Straf. 3; Rep. M. Smith, Straf. 6; Rep. Verville, Rock. 2; Rep. Gould, Hills. 7; Rep. T. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. Wallace, Rock. 12; Rep. Testerman, Merr. 2

 

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill prohibits the sharing of location data by a mobile application developer, telecommunications carrier, or other person.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

8Apr2021... 0155h 21-0478

04/10

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One

 

AN ACT prohibiting the sharing of location data.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  New Section; Wiretapping and Eavesdropping; Sharing Location Data Prohibited.  Amend RSA 570-A by inserting after section 2-a the following new section:

570-A:2-b  Sharing Location Data Prohibited.

I.  In this section:

(a)(1)  "Authorized use" means the sharing of a customer's location data:

(A)  For the purpose of providing a service explicitly requested by such customer;

(B)  Exclusively for the purpose of providing a service explicitly requested by such customer; and

(C)  Where such data is not collected, shared, stored, or otherwise used by a third party for any purpose other than providing a service explicitly requested by such customer.

(2)  "Authorized use" shall not include any instance in which a customer's location data is shared in exchange for products or services.

(b)  "Customer" means a current or former subscriber to a telecommunications carrier or a current or former user of a mobile application.

(c)  "Location data" means information related to the physical or geographical location of a person or the person's mobile communications device, regardless of the particular technological method used to obtain this information.

(d)  "Mobile application" means a software program that runs on the operating system of a mobile communications device.

(e)  "Mobile application developer" means a person that owns, operates, or maintains a mobile application and makes such application available for the use of customers for a fee or otherwise.

(f)  "Mobile communications device" means any portable wireless telecommunications equipment that is utilized for the transmission or reception of data, including location data, and that is or may be commonly carried by or on a person or commonly travels with a person, including in or as part of a vehicle a person drives.

(g)  "Share" means to make location data available to another person, for a fee or otherwise.

(h)  "Telecommunications carrier" means a service offered to the public for a fee that transmits sounds, images, or data through wireless telecommunications technology.

II(a)  No mobile application developer or a telecommunications carrier shall share a customer's location data, other than to fulfill an explicit request from such customer, unless the customer has affirmatively waived such right after being properly informed.  For purposes of this section, continuing to use a service or website shall not be considered an affirmative waiver.

(b)  No person who receives location data that is shared in violation of subparagraph (a) shall share such data with another person.

III.  A mobile application developer, telecommunications carrier, or other person who shares a customer's location data with another person in a manner prohibited by this section shall be guilty of a violation and subject to a fine of $1,000.  A mobile application developer, telecommunications carrier, or other person who is convicted of multiple violations of this section shall be subject to a maximum fine $10,000 for each person whose location data was shared in violation of this section.

IV.  This section shall not apply to:

(a)  Information provided to a law enforcement agency in response to a lawful process;

(b)  Information provided to an emergency service agency responding to an emergency communication or any other communication reporting an imminent threat to life or property;

(c)  Information required to be provided by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency; or

(d)  A customer providing the customer's own location data to a mobile application.

V.  Any customer whose location data has been shared in violation of this chapter may bring a private action in a court of competent jurisdiction.  If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a person has violated a provision of this section, the court may award actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in maintaining such civil action.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

LBA

21-0478

12/10/20

 

HB 384-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT prohibiting the sharing of location data.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [    ] Local              [    ] None

 

 

 

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

FY 2024

   Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Revenue

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

   Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Indeterminable Increase

Funding Source:

  [ X ] General            [    ] Education            [    ] Highway           [ X ] Other - Penalty Assessment Revenue

 

 

 

 

 

METHODOLOGY:

This bill prohibits the sharing of data by a mobile application developer, telecommunications carrier, or other person.  The Judicial Branch indicates the potential fiscal impact to the Branch from this bill is in the filing of additional violation offenses and civil actions for damages, costs and attorneys’ fees.  The Branch does not have information on the number of additional violation level offenses that will result from the proposed bill and is unable to anticipate the additional costs or the amount of fine revenue that will be collected.  Regarding private actions for sharing location data in violation of proposed RSA 570-A:2-b, including claims for damages, costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, such cases would likely be classified as complex civil cases in the superior court.  The Branch has no information on which to estimate how many new complex civil cases will be brought because of the proposed bill.  The estimated average cost to Branch for both types of cases follows:

Judicial Branch

FY 2021

FY 2022

Violation Level Offense

$53

$53

Complex Civil Case

$794

$794

Appeals

Varies

Varies

 

It should be noted that these average case cost estimates are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types.  The Judicial Branch received an appropriation in the operating budget to update its cost data in 2020, but due to the COVID state of emergency, this analysis has been delayed.  

 

It is assumed any fiscal impact would occur after July 1, 2021.

 

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch

 

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