Bill Text: NJ A4838 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Internet service providers to keep confidential subscriber's personally identifiable information unless subscriber opts-in when subscribing and renewing service to allow Internet service provider to disclose information.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-18 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A4838 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A4838-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Internet service providers to keep confidential subscriber's personally identifiable information unless subscriber opts-in when subscribing and renewing service to allow Internet service provider to disclose information.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning Internet service providers and personally identifiable information and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Internet service provider" means a person, business, or organization qualified to do business in this State that provides individuals, businesses, or other entities with the ability to connect by wireline or radio frequency to the Internet through equipment that is located in this State.
"Online service" means an information service provided over the Internet, including, but not limited to, offsite data storage services and computer application services.
"Personally identifiable information" means any information that personally identifies, describes, or is able to be associated with a subscriber or users of a subscriber's account, including, but not limited to:
name, address, precise geolocation, social security number, or telephone number;
requests for specific materials or services from an Internet service provider;
online service use history;
Internet websites visited during use of a subscriber's account; or
the contents of a subscriber's communications or data-storage devices.
"Ordinary course of business" means debt-collection activities, order fulfillment, request processing, or the transfer of ownership, and advertising services to the subscriber by the Internet service provider.
"Subscriber" means a residential or business subscriber located in this State that subscribes with an Internet service provider to receive access to the Internet on equipment located in the State.
2. a. An Internet service provider shall keep confidential a subscriber's personally identifiable information unless the subscriber, expressly and in writing on a form separate from the contract for Internet service, as determined by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, authorizes the Internet service provider to disclose this information.
b. An Internet service provider shall provide written notice of the requirements of this section to each subscriber when the subscriber contracts with the Internet service provider for Internet service, when the subscriber renews a contract for Internet service, and each time the Internet service provider changes its policy concerning the disclosure of personally identifiable information.
c. An Internet service provider shall annually provide by mail to a subscriber that authorizes the disclosure of personally identifiable information, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, a comprehensive list of each person or entity to which the Internet service provider has disclosed the subscriber's personally identifiable information.
d. An Internet service provider shall not refuse to provide Internet service to a subscriber for not authorizing the Internet service provider to disclose the subscriber's personally identifiable information.
e. The requirements of subsection a. of this section shall not apply to disclosures incidental to the ordinary course of business of the Internet service provider or investigations undertaken pursuant to the "New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act," P.L.1968, c. 409 (C.2A:156A-1 et seq.).
3. A waiver of the requirements, or an agreement that does not comply with, the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be void and unenforceable.
4. It shall be an unlawful practice and violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) to violate section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
5. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to effectuate the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires an Internet service provider (ISP) to keep confidential a subscriber's personally identifiable information unless the subscriber, expressly and in writing on a form separate from the contract for service, as determined by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, authorizes the ISP to disclose this information.
Under the bill, an ISP is to provide written notice of the requirements of the bill to each subscriber when the subscriber contracts with the ISP for service, when the subscriber renews a contract for service, and each time the ISP changes its policy concerning the disclosure of personally identifiable information.
An ISP is to annually provide by mail to a subscriber that authorizes the disclosure of personally identifiable information a comprehensive list of each person or entity to which the ISP has disclosed the subscriber's personally identifiable information.
The provisions of this bill do not apply to disclosures incidental to the ISP's ordinary course of business or to investigations undertaken pursuant to the "New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act."
This bill provides that a violation of this bill is to be an unlawful practice in accordance with the State's Consumer Fraud Act.
In this bill, "personally identifiable information" means any information that personally identifies, describes, or is able to be associated with a subscriber or users of a subscriber's account, including, but not limited to:
name, address, precise geolocation, social security number, or telephone number;
requests for specific materials or services from an Internet service provider;
online service use history;
Internet websites visited during use of a subscriber's account; or
the contents of a subscriber's communications or data-storage devices.
This bill also provides that "subscriber" means a residential or business subscriber located in this State that subscribes with an Internet service provider to receive access to the Internet on equipment located in the State.
