NH. SB 316. Protection of Personal Information.

NH. SB 316. Protection of Personal Information.
Short Title
Official Text	NH. SB 316. Protection of Personal Information.
Country/Jurisdiction	United States
State or Province	New Hampshire
Regulatory Bodies
Date Enacted	2019
Scope of the Law	General Business
Information
Taxonomy	Aggregation, Identification, Increased Accessibility
Strategies

Text of the law

SENATE BILL 316-FN

AN ACT relative to the protection of personal information.

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

1 New Chapter; Protection of Personal Information. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 359-P the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 359-Q

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

359-Q:1 Definitions. In this chapter:

I. "Individual" means a living human being.

II. "Government" means the federal government, the state government and any political subdivisions thereof, and any state and municipal agencies and departments, including employees, agents, and contractors.

III. "Information and service providers" means a person who provides an individual with information and services, including but not limited to: cellular and landline telephone service; Internet service; cable television; social media; email service; banks and financial institutions; insurance companies; utilities regulated by the public utilities commission, credit card companies, and companies that maintain genetic databases for commercial or other purposes.

IV. "Person" means an individual, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, and any other organization, including a for-profit or not-for-profit entity. "Person" shall not include government.

V. "Personal information" means:

(a) An individual's name, date or place of birth, social security number, address, employment history, credit history, financial information, account numbers, cellular telephone numbers, voice over Internet protocol or landline telephone numbers, biometric identifiers, including fingerprints, facial photographs or images, retinal scans, genetic profiles, DNA/RNA, or other identifying data unique to that individual; ^{Identification}

(b) The content of messages and the history of usage of the information, including locational information, or service given or available to information and service providers with whom the individual has a contractual relationship; or

(c) One or more pieces of information that, when considered together or in the context of the information that is presented or gathered, are sufficient to identify a unique individual. ^Aggregation

359-Q:2 Protection of Personal Information.

I. No information or service providers shall, directly or indirectly, transfer, disclose or otherwise make available to any person or government any personal information related to individuals located in New Hampshire except: ^{Increased Accessibility}

(a) With the written consent of the individual for such purpose and use as the individual may choose, provided that such consent is not a condition for providing information or service.

(b) In the case of a government, pursuant to a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause or pursuant to a judicially-recognized exception to the warrant requirement.

(c) In the case of the division of emergency services and communications, when handling emergency 911 telecommunications.

II. Paragraph I shall not apply to personal information if required by a government pursuant to state or federal statute, provided that such information is requested of and supplied by an information and service provider for an individual or, in the case of an employee or contractor of an information and service provider, for all of its employees and contractors.

359-Q:3 Penalties.

I. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 for a first offense and guilty of a class B felony and subject to a fine of not more than $2,000 for a second or subsequent offense.

II. Any department or agency of the government that knowingly violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of $10,000 for each offense which fine shall be deposited in the general fund.

359-Q:4 Right of Action.

I. Any person injured by a violation of this chapter shall have a right of action in the superior court to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

II. In any civil case for damages, a person injured by a violation of this chapter shall be awarded actual damages or $2,000, whichever is greater, and shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.

359-Q:5 Action Against a Corporation. This chapter shall not be construed to create a cause of action against a corporation or its officers, employees, or agents for providing information to a government pursuant to this chapter.

359-Q:6 Construction. This chapter shall be construed to provide the greatest possible protection of the privacy of the people of this state.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.

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