THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            93
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     SENATE CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
      REQUESTING A STUDY REGARDING THE ISSUE OF PERSONAL
  PRIVACY AND COMMERCIAL USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.

 1        WHEREAS, the multi-billion dollar commercial trade in
 2   personal information -- financial, job-related, medical, and
 3   lifestyle -- is one of the fastest growing industries in the
 4   world; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, in the United States, the person behind each
 7   piece of information is largely neglected, and has few, if any,
 8   rights to review the information for accuracy or to restrict
 9   its use; and
10   
11        WHEREAS, Hawaii's constitutional right to privacy for its
12   citizens, contained in Article I, section 7 of the Hawaii
13   Constitution, requires the Legislature to take affirmative
14   steps to implement the right to privacy; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the Legislature has considered addressing this
17   issue through a statutory scheme regulating the collection and
18   use of personal information; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, the measures proposed to address this issue have
21   raised concerns the potential for an undue burden on private
22   business, the lack of specific provisions regulating when
23   consumer consent to the use of information is required and what
24   form that consent must take, and about the potential
25   application of vague or ambiguous language; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, the important issue of privacy of personal
28   information calls for legislative action, but that action must
29   be based on a systemic evaluation of the appropriate nature,
30   scope, and application of laws safeguarding personal privacy,
31   to balance the interests of and be fair to all affected
32   parties; now, therefore,
33   
34        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
35   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
36   Representatives concurring, that the Office of Information
37   Practices is requested to conduct a study of the issue of
38   personal privacy and commercial use of personal information,
39   and to identify and make recommendations regarding a systematic
40   legislative scheme to protect personal privacy and regulate

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            93
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   commercial use of personal information without unduly burdening
 2   private business or negatively impacting free speech rights;
 3   and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that participants in the study
 6   include representatives of the Department of Commerce and
 7   Consumer Affairs and the Department of Business, Economic
 8   Development, and Tourism, representatives of Hawaii's business
 9   community, including banks, retailers, marketing or advertising
10   firms, media, records managers, and computer professionals,
11   representatives of the legal community, representatives of non-
12   governmental organizations, such as the American Civil
13   Liberties Union, the American Association of Retired Persons,
14   the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy
15   International, or the US Privacy Council, and representatives
16   of the community at large; and
17   
18        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Information
19   Practices is requested to submit a report of its findings and
20   recommendations to the Legislature on the issue of personal
21   privacy and commercial use of personal information, including
22   any proposed legislation to address such issues, no later than
23   twenty days prior to the convening of the 2000 regular session;
24   and
25   
26        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
27   Resolution be transmitted to the Office of Information
28   Practices, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the
29   Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the
30   Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, the Hawaii Bankers Association,
31   the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, the Honolulu and Big Island
32   chapters of the American Marketing Association, the Hawaii
33   chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the
34   Honolulu Media Council, the Hawaii chapter of the American
35   Records Management Association, the western chapter of Computer
36   Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Honolulu chapter
37   of the Association of Information Technology Professionals, the
38   Hawaii State Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties
39   Union, the American Association of Retired Persons, the
40   Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy International,
41   and the US Privacy Council.
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45                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________