Bill Text: NJ S3597 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Internet dating services to conduct criminal record screenings upon request and consent of members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-09-19 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S3597 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S3597-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JON M. BRAMNICK
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Internet dating services to conduct criminal record screenings upon request and consent of members.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning Internet dating services and amending P.L.2007, c.272.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.2007, c.272 (C.56:8-171) is amended to read as follows:
4. An Internet dating service offering services to New Jersey members shall:
a. Provide safety awareness notification that includes, at minimum, a list and description of safety measures reasonably designed to increase awareness of safer dating practices as determined by the service. Examples of such notifications include:
(1) "Anyone who is able to commit identity theft can also falsify a dating profile."
(2) "There is no substitute for acting with caution when communicating with any stranger who wants to meet you."
(3) "Never include your last name, e-mail address, home address, phone number, place of work, or any other identifying information in your Internet profile or initial e-mail messages. Stop communicating with anyone who pressures you for personal or financial information or attempts in any way to trick you into revealing it."
(4) "If you choose to have a face-to-face meeting with another member, always tell someone in your family or a friend where you are going and when you will return. Never agree to be picked up at your home. Always provide your own transportation to and from your date and meet in a public place with many people around."
b. If an Internet dating service does not conduct criminal background screenings [on] except upon the consent of its members pursuant to subsection e. of this section, the service shall disclose, clearly and conspicuously, to all New Jersey members that the Internet dating service does not conduct criminal background screenings unless a member has requested another member to undergo a criminal background screening and the member has consented to the screening. A disclosure under this subsection shall be in bold, capital letters in at least 12-point type.
The disclosure shall be provided in two or more of the following forms:
(1) when an electronic mail message is sent or received by a New Jersey member, in a "click-through" or other similar presentation requiring a member from this State to acknowledge that they have received the information required by this act [,] ;
(2) on the profile describing a member to a New Jersey member [,] ; and
(3) on the web-site pages or homepage of the Internet dating service used when a New Jersey member signs up. [A disclosure under this subsection shall be in bold, capital letters in at least 12-point type.]
c. If an Internet dating service conducts criminal background screenings on all of its communicating members as a condition of membership, then the service shall disclose, clearly and conspicuously, to all New Jersey members that the Internet dating service conducts a criminal background screening on each member prior to permitting a New Jersey member to communicate with another member. The disclosure shall be provided on the website pages used when a New Jersey member signs up. A disclosure under this subsection shall be in bold, capital letters in at least 12-point type.
d. If an Internet dating service conducts criminal background screenings, then the service shall [disclose] state:
(1) whether it has a policy allowing a member who has been identified as having a criminal conviction to have access to its service to communicate with any New Jersey member; [shall]
(2) [state] that criminal background screenings are not foolproof; that they may give members a false sense of security;
(3) that [they] criminal background screenings are not a perfect safety solution;
(4) that criminals may circumvent even the most sophisticated search technology;
(5) that not all criminal records are public in all states and not all databases are up to date;
(6) that only publicly available convictions are included in the screening; and
(7) that screenings do not cover other types of convictions or arrests or any convictions from foreign countries.
e. An Internet dating service that does not conduct criminal background screenings on all of its members as a condition of membership, shall conduct a screening upon the request of a member who is seeking to obtain the information about another member for the purpose of engaging in dating, relationship, compatibility, matrimonial or social referral provided the member who is requested to undergo the screening gives consent to the screening.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.272, s.4)
2. This act shall take effect
on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires Internet dating services to conduct criminal record screenings upon the request of a member who is seeking to obtain information about another member for the purpose of engaging in dating, relationship, compatibility, matrimonial, or social referral. Under the bill, the Internet dating service would only conduct the criminal record screening if the member who is requested to undergo the screening gives consent to the screening.
Under the "Internet Dating Safety Act", Internet dating services that do not require members to submit to a criminal record screening are required to disclose to all New Jersey members that the Internet dating service does not conduct criminal background screenings. This bill amends current law to require these Internet dating services to conduct criminal record screening upon the request of a member who is seeking criminal record information about another member provided that member gives consent to the screening.
