PogoWasRight - State & Local Go vt

SC: House panel to consider requiring DNA samples after arrests

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:58:40 -0400

Anyone charged with a felony punishable by at least five years in prison would be required to provide DNA samples to the state under a bill sent to the House floor.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill on a voice vote Tuesday.

The state already takes DNA samples from people convicted of felonies. But under the measure, DNA samples would be taken from people upon their arrest.

Source - WIS10

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Perdue signs consumer protection legislation

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:08:10 -0400

Today at a bill signing event at Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) headquarters, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed three pieces of legislation to protect Georgia�s consumers and prosecute identity thieves: House Bill 130, Senate Bill 388 and Senate Bill 24.

Source - The Daily Citizen

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AZ: Robson bill to fight identity theft signed into state law

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:13:59 -0400

Speaker Pro Tem Bob Robson's latest battle against identity theft was signed into state law April 16.

HB2587 requires creditors to verify a consumer's address before extending credit if the address differs from the one on record and verify the identity of a consumer if they do not use consumer credit reports.

Source - White Mountain Independent

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Audit: NJ lacks computer security for personal Medicaid data

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:28:06 -0400

New Jersey has not monitored access to key personal information in a computer system that tracks care for the poor, leaving no way to know if Social Security numbers and other information about doctors and patients have been misused, a recent state audit found.

The analysis determined that the state Department of Human Services lacks appropriate security policies and procedures for the computer system it uses to process claims for more than 1 million New Jersey Medicaid patients.

The department, according to the analysis, fails to properly monitor access to information such as Social Security and tax identification numbers, Drug Enforcement Agency numbers used to write drug prescriptions, and birth dates.

Source - Newsday

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Back to class on medical privacy (opinion)

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:34:42 -0400

There's a lesson for state lawmakers in a dispute brewing between a tiny Van Buren County school district and the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers union. The Lawton district and the MEA are at odds over the limits of a recent Michigan law allowing school districts to seek competitive health insurance bids. The district maintains it operated within the confines of that law by asking school support employees to complete a personal health history survey as part of an effort to seek a new insurance bid.

Not true, says the MEA.

Source - Detroit Free Press

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FL: Abortion ultrasound bill fails in Senate

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:10:39 -0400

A bill that could have deterred abortions by having women view ultrasound photos of the fetus before undergoing the procedure, was killed on a 20-20 tie vote in the Senate Wednesday.

Several supporters said they hoped seeing the photos would deter women from having abortions, while opponents said it created undue government intrusion into women's personal lives.

Source - TampaBays10.com

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House says Vermonters' library records should be kept confidential

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:07:43 -0400

The Vermont House has approved legislation that makes all library records confidential, unless a judge issues a warrant for the information.

The major debate over the bill concerned the rights of parents to learn what books their children have checked out of the library.

Source - VPR

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States faulted over privacy breaches; tighter security urged

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:08:43 -0400

Tax forms were sent out to thousands of people in Wisconsin with their Social Security numbers on the mailing labels. A vendor hired by the state of Georgia lost a computer disk with the names and Social Security numbers of 2.9 million people. A disk with similar information disappeared in Rhode Island.

While some of the biggest and most spectacular privacy breaches in recent years have happened at large corporations, state governments have also mishandled or failed to protect some of the sensitive information entrusted to them _ data that identity thieves would love to get their hands on.

Yet most states don�t have statewide privacy officers in charge of safeguarding data, statewide policies on protecting sensitive material, or standing procedures for responding to breaches.

Source - KAAL-TV

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FL: Abortion Bill May Be Short on Votes

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:00:12 -0400

It was expected to be a razor-close vote that could go either way, but now a controversial proposed abortion law appears to be in jeopardy of even coming up for debate.

The bill requires every woman seeking an abortion in Florida to first have an ultrasound and to sign a waiver if she does not want to view the image of the fetus.

Source - TheLedger.com

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PA: 911 registry raises privacy concerns

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:58:12 -0400

What's the harm in registering special needs residents with the 911 dispatch center?

If you ask Bensalem resident Michael Teti, who has multiple sclerosis, he'd tell you: everything.

�When you put the information they have over the radio, who's going to safeguard it?� asked Teti, 57. �It's just way too public for me.�

Source - PhillyBurbs.com

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NH: House rejects participation in federal data program

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:30:35 -0400

It looks like concerns over privacy have scuttled a proposal for the state Department of Labor to participate in a federal joint local employment dynamics program, which is supposed to give businesses considering locating in New Hampshire better data.

The bill, which defeated in the House on Wednesday, would have allowed the state Labor Department � along with their counterparts in 47 other states -- to share the employee data it collects from employers with the U.S. Census Bureau. The federal agency can crunch the numbers to provide a quick and updated profile of the labor situation for companies considering moving their business or starting up a business in New Hampshire. But raw data transmitted to the federal government includes the employee names, Social Security numbers and place of employment.

Source - New Hampshire Business Review

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La. Senate panel blocks droopy-pants bill

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:57:46 -0400

State senators said they disapproved of revealing fashion styles, but rejected a bill yesterday that would make it a crime to wear one's pants too low.

A Louisiana Senate judicial committee voted down Democratic Sen. Derrick Shepherd's bill to make it illegal to wear, in public, clothing that "intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks or genitals."

Source - First Amendment Center

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CA: Proposed Anti-Spam Law Would Make Lawsuits Easier

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:30:18 -0400

California is mulling new anti-spam legislation that would strengthen state law by making it easier for private citizens to sue some e-mail marketers.

The measure would enable consumers to sue e-mail senders and advertisers for up to $1 million for using false or deceptive subject lines or misleading ad copy in the body of e-mail messages. California Assemblyman Jared Huffman is sponsoring the act, which has met with resistance by Web companies and the American Electronics Association.

Source - MediaPost

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OK: Peeping Tom law signed

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:21:31 -0400

Governor Brad Henry has signed into a law a bill that closes a loophole in the state's peeping Tom law.

The legislature passed the bill to outlaw the taking of photographs of a person's private areas while in a public place and the governor signed it Friday.

Source - KSWO

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Invasion of privacy (editorial)

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:10:03 -0400

We're heartened to hear that the legislative measure to require women to undergo an ultrasound before obtaining a first trimester abortion is foundering.

While the House passed the GOP-backed bill earlier this month - with both Bradenton Reps. Bill Galvano and Ron Reagan voting their approval - the Senate appears to be balking thanks to a fracture in the Republican Party.

While a Senate panel narrowly passed the bill 3-2 on party lines Tuesday, moderate Republicans led by Sen. Jim King of Jacksonville are lining up against the measure.

Source - Bradenton Herald

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CA: Public-vs.-private information again focus in Capitol

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:56:22 -0400

The dispute between newspapers and the government over the privacy of government employee information is again surfacing in the state Capitol, this time in the form of proposed legislation.

At issue is whether the salary and other information about police officers should be part of the public record. Two state Supreme Court rulings last years-one in favor of the Contra Costa Times, the other in favor of the Los Angeles Times-said the information should be in the public domain.

Source - Capitol Weekly

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Florida Senate poised to tackle abortion measure

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:25:01 -0400

Sen. Daniel Webster's bill to require all women to undergo ultrasound testing before obtaining an abortion narrowly cleared its final stop Tuesday before going to the full Senate.

The 3-2 vote by the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee split along party lines, with the panel's three Republicans supporting the measure sponsored by the Senate's GOP leader. But Democratic lawmakers castigated Webster for bringing government into a matter they said should be decided by a woman and her doctor.

Source - Orlando Sentinel

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