Senator Don L. Ipson proposes the following substitute bill:


1     
PROTECTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS'

2     
PERSONAL INFORMATION

3     
2017 GENERAL SESSION

4     
STATE OF UTAH

5     
Chief Sponsor: Don L. Ipson

6     
House Sponsor: Paul Ray

7     

8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This bill amends the Public Safety Code regarding protection of personal information of
11     law enforcement officers.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸      provides criminal penalties for posting on the Internet a law enforcement officer's
15     address and phone numbers, or posting the same information regarding an officer's
16     immediate family member;
17          ▸     prohibits the solicitation or sale of the officer's private information and provides for
18     civil damages and the cost of attorney fees; and
19          ▸     provides definitions, including a definition of "personal information."
20     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21          None
22     Other Special Clauses:
23          None
24     Utah Code Sections Affected:
25     ENACTS:

26          53-18-101, Utah Code Annotated 1953
27          53-18-102, Utah Code Annotated 1953
28          53-18-103, Utah Code Annotated 1953
29          53-18-104, Utah Code Annotated 1953
30     

31     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
32          Section 1. Section 53-18-101 is enacted to read:
33     
CHAPTER 18. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF LAW

34     
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

35          53-18-101. Title.
36          This chapter is known as "Protection of Personal Information of Law Enforcement
37     Officers."
38          Section 2. Section 53-18-102 is enacted to read:
39          53-18-102. Definitions.
40          As used in this chapter:
41          (1) "Access software provider" means a provider of software, including client or server
42     software, or enabling tools that do any one or more of the following:
43          (a) filter, screen, allow, or disallow content;
44          (b) pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or
45          (c) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, organize, reorganize, or
46     translate content.
47          (2) "Immediate family member" means a law enforcement officer's spouse, child or
48     spouse of a child, sibling or spouse of a sibling, or parent.
49          (3) "Interactive computer service" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection
50     47 U.S.C. 230(f).
51          (4) "Law enforcement officer" or "officer":
52          (a) means the same as that term is defined in Section 53-13-103;
53          (b) includes "correctional offers" as defined in Section 53-13-104; and
54          (c) refers only to officers who are currently employed by, retired from, or were killed in
55     the line of duty while in the employ of a state or local governmental law enforcement agency.
56          (5) "Personal information" means a law enforcement officer's or law enforcement

57     officer's immediate family member's address, telephone number, personal mobile telephone
58     number, pager number, personal email address, personal photograph, directions to locate the
59     law enforcement officer's home, or photographs of the law enforcement officer's or the officer's
60     immediate family member's home or vehicle.
61          (6) "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to intentionally communicate or
62     otherwise make available to the general public.
63          Section 3. Section 53-18-103 is enacted to read:
64          53-18-103. Internet posting of personal information of law enforcement officers --
65     Prohibitions.
66          (1) A state or local governmental agency may not post the personal information of any
67     law enforcement officer employed by the state or any political subdivision on the Internet
68     unless the agency has obtained written permission from the officer and has the written
69     permission in the agency's possession.
70          (2) An individual may not knowingly post on the Internet the personal information of
71     any law enforcement officer or of the officer's immediate family members knowing the person
72     is a law enforcement officer or that the person is the immediate family member of a law
73     enforcement officer.
74          (a) A violation of this Subsection (2) is a class B misdemeanor.
75          (b) A violation of this Subsection (2) that results in bodily injury to the officer, or a
76     member of the officer's immediate family, is a class A misdemeanor.
77          (c) Each act against a separate individual in violation of this Subsection (2) is a
78     separate offense. The defendant may also be charged separately with the commission of any
79     other criminal conduct related to the commission of an offense under this Subsection (2).
80          (3) (a) A business or association may not publicly post or publicly display on the
81     Internet the personal information of any law enforcement officer if that officer has, either
82     directly or through an agent designated under Subsection (3)(c), provided to that business or
83     association a written demand to not disclose the officer's personal information.
84          (b) A written demand made under this Subsection (3) by a law enforcement officer is
85     effective for the four years beginning on the day the demand is delivered, regardless of whether
86     or not the law enforcement officer's employment as an officer has terminated during the four
87     years.

88          (c) A law enforcement officer may designate in writing the officer's employer or a
89     representative of any voluntary professional association of law enforcement officers to act on
90     behalf of the officer and as the officer's agent to make a written demand pursuant to this
91     chapter.
92          (d) (i) A business or association that receives a written demand from a law enforcement
93     officer under Subsection (3)(a) shall remove the officer's personal information from public
94     display on the Internet, including the removal of information provided to cellular telephone
95     applications, within 24 hours of the delivery of the written demand, and shall ensure that the
96     information is not posted again on the same Internet website or any other Internet website the
97     recipient of the written demand maintains or exercises control over.
98          (ii) After receiving the law enforcement officer's written demand, the person, business,
99     or association may not publicly post or publicly display on the Internet, the personal
100     information of the law enforcement officer.
101          (iii) This Subsection (3)(d) does not prohibit a telephone corporation, as defined in
102     Section 54-2-1, or its affiliate or other voice service provider, including providers of
103     interconnected voice over Internet protocol service as defined in 47 C.F.R. 9.3, from
104     transferring the law enforcement officer's personal information to any person, business, or
105     association, if the transfer is authorized by federal or state law, regulation, order, terms of
106     service, or tariff, or is necessary in the event of an emergency, or to collect a debt owed by the
107     officer to the telephone corporation or its affiliate.
108          (iv) This Subsection (3)(d) does not apply to a telephone corporation or other voice
109     service provider, including providers of interconnected voice over Internet protocol service,
110     with respect to directories or directories listings to the extend the entity offers a nonpublished
111     listing option.
112          (4) (a) A law enforcement officer whose personal information is made public as a
113     result of a violation of Subsection (3) may bring an action seeking injunctive or declarative
114     relief in any court of competent jurisdiction.
115          (b) If a court finds that a violation has occurred, it may grant injunctive or declarative
116     relief and shall award the law enforcement officer court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
117          (c) If the defendant fails to comply with an order of the court issued under this
118     Subsection (4), the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for the

119     defendant's failure to comply with the court's order.
120          (5) (a) A person, business, or association may not solicit, sell, or trade on the Internet
121     the personal information of a law enforcement officer, if the dissemination of the personal
122     information poses an imminent and serious threat to the law enforcement officer's safety or the
123     safety of the law enforcement officer's immediate family and the person making the
124     information available on the Internet knows or reasonably should know of the imminent and
125     serious threat.
126          (b) A law enforcement officer whose personal information is knowingly publicly
127     posted or publicly displayed on the Internet may bring an action in any court of competent
128     jurisdiction. If a jury or court finds that a defendant has committed a violation of Subsection
129     (5)(a), the jury or court shall award damages to the officer in the amount of triple the cost of
130     actual damages or $4,000, whichever is greater.
131          (6) An interactive computer service or access software is not liable under Subsections
132     (3)(d)(i) and (5) for information or content provided by another information content provider of
133     the service or software.
134          (7) Unless a law enforcement officer requests that certain information be removed or
135     protected from disclosure in accordance with Section 63G-2-302, a county recorder who makes
136     information available for public inspection in accordance with Section 17-21-19 is not in
137     violation of this chapter.
138          Section 4. Section 53-18-104 is enacted to read:
139          53-18-104. Protection of constitutional rights .
140          This chapter does not affect, limit, or apply to, any conduct or activities that are
141     protected by the constitution or laws of the state or by the constitution or laws of the United
142     States.