Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 096-0874
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Public Act 096-0874


 

Public Act 0874 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 096-0874
 
HB0547 Re-Enrolled LRB096 05696 RLJ 15762 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Identity Protection Act.
 
    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Identity-protection policy" means any policy created to
protect social security numbers from unauthorized disclosure.
    "Local government agency" means that term as it is defined
in Section 1-8 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.
    "Person" means any individual in the employ of a State
agency or local government agency.
    "Publicly post" or "publicly display" means to
intentionally communicate or otherwise intentionally make
available to the general public.
    "State agency" means that term as it is defined in Section
1-7 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.
 
    Section 10. Prohibited Activities.
    (a) Beginning July 1, 2010, no person or State or local
government agency may do any of the following:
        (1) Publicly post or publicly display in any manner an
    individual's social security number.
        (2) Print an individual's social security number on any
    card required for the individual to access products or
    services provided by the person or entity.
        (3) Require an individual to transmit his or her social
    security number over the Internet, unless the connection is
    secure or the social security number is encrypted.
        (4) Print an individual's social security number on any
    materials that are mailed to the individual, through the
    U.S. Postal Service, any private mail service, electronic
    mail, or any similar method of delivery, unless State or
    federal law requires the social security number to be on
    the document to be mailed. Notwithstanding any provision in
    this Section to the contrary, social security numbers may
    be included in applications and forms sent by mail,
    including, but not limited to, any material mailed in
    connection with the administration of the Unemployment
    Insurance Act, any material mailed in connection with any
    tax administered by the Department of Revenue, and
    documents sent as part of an application or enrollment
    process or to establish, amend, or terminate an account,
    contract, or policy or to confirm the accuracy of the
    social security number. A social security number that may
    permissibly be mailed under this Section may not be
    printed, in whole or in part, on a postcard or other mailer
    that does not require an envelope or be visible on an
    envelope without the envelope having been opened.
    (b) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, beginning
July 1, 2010, no person or State or local government agency may
do any of the following:
        (1) Collect, use, or disclose a social security number
    from an individual, unless (i) required to do so under
    State or federal law, rules, or regulations, or the
    collection, use, or disclosure of the social security
    number is otherwise necessary for the performance of that
    agency's duties and responsibilities; (ii) the need and
    purpose for the social security number is documented before
    collection of the social security number; and (iii) the
    social security number collected is relevant to the
    documented need and purpose.
        (2) Require an individual to use his or her social
    security number to access an Internet website.
        (3) Use the social security number for any purpose
    other than the purpose for which it was collected.
    (c) The prohibitions in subsection (b) do not apply in the
following circumstances:
        (1) The disclosure of social security numbers to
    agents, employees, contractors, or subcontractors of a
    governmental entity or disclosure by a governmental entity
    to another governmental entity or its agents, employees,
    contractors, or subcontractors if disclosure is necessary
    in order for the entity to perform its duties and
    responsibilities; and, if disclosing to a contractor or
    subcontractor, prior to such disclosure, the governmental
    entity must first receive from the contractor or
    subcontractor a copy of the contractor's or
    subcontractor's policy that sets forth how the
    requirements imposed under this Act on a governmental
    entity to protect an individual's social security number
    will be achieved.
        (2) The disclosure of social security numbers pursuant
    to a court order, warrant, or subpoena.
        (3) The collection, use, or disclosure of social
    security numbers in order to ensure the safety of: State
    and local government employees; persons committed to
    correctional facilities, local jails, and other
    law-enforcement facilities or retention centers; wards of
    the State; and all persons working in or visiting a State
    or local government agency facility.
        (4) The collection, use, or disclosure of social
    security numbers for internal verification or
    administrative purposes.
        (5) The disclosure of social security numbers by a
    State agency to any entity for the collection of delinquent
    child support or of any State debt or to a governmental
    agency to assist with an investigation or the prevention of
    fraud.
        (6) The collection or use of social security numbers to
    investigate or prevent fraud, to conduct background
    checks, to collect a debt, to obtain a credit report from a
    consumer reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit
    Reporting Act, to undertake any permissible purpose that is
    enumerated under the federal Gramm Leach Bliley Act, or to
    locate a missing person, a lost relative, or a person who
    is due a benefit, such as a pension benefit or an unclaimed
    property benefit.
    (d) If any State or local government agency has adopted
standards for the collection, use, or disclosure of social
security numbers that are stricter than the standards under
this Act with respect to the protection of those social
security numbers, then, in the event of any conflict with the
provisions of this Act, the stricter standards adopted by the
State or local government agency shall control.
 
    Section 15. Public inspection and copying of documents.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act to the
contrary, a person or State or local government agency must
comply with the provisions of any other State law with respect
to allowing the public inspection and copying of information or
documents containing all or any portion of an individual's
social security number. A person or State or local government
agency must redact social security numbers from the information
or documents before allowing the public inspection or copying
of the information or documents.
 
    Section 20. Applicability.
    (a) This Act does not apply to the collection, use, or
disclosure of a social security number as required by State or
federal law, rule, or regulation.
    (b) This Act does not apply to documents that are recorded
with a county recorder or required to be open to the public
under any State or federal law, rule, or regulation, applicable
case law, Supreme Court Rule, or the Constitution of the State
of Illinois. Notwithstanding this Section, county recorders
must comply with Section 35 of this Act.
 
    Section 25. Compliance with federal law. If a federal law
takes effect requiring any federal agency to establish a
national unique patient health identifier program, any State or
local government agency that complies with the federal law
shall be deemed to be in compliance with this Act.
 
    Section 30. Embedded social security numbers. Beginning
December 31, 2009, no person or State or local government
agency may encode or embed a social security number in or on a
card or document, including, but not limited to, using a bar
code, chip, magnetic strip, RFID technology, or other
technology, in place of removing the social security number as
required by this Act.
 
    Section 35. Identity-protection policy; local government.
    (a) Each local government agency must draft and approve an
identity-protection policy within 12 months after the
effective date of this Act. The policy must do all of the
following:
        (1) Identify this Act.
        (2) Require all employees of the local government
    agency identified as having access to social security
    numbers in the course of performing their duties to be
    trained to protect the confidentiality of social security
    numbers. Training should include instructions on the
    proper handling of information that contains social
    security numbers from the time of collection through the
    destruction of the information.
        (3) Direct that only employees who are required to use
    or handle information or documents that contain social
    security numbers have access to such information or
    documents.
        (4) Require that social security numbers requested
    from an individual be provided in a manner that makes the
    social security number easily redacted if required to be
    released as part of a public records request.
        (5) Require that, when collecting a social security
    number or upon request by the individual, a statement of
    the purpose or purposes for which the agency is collecting
    and using the social security number be provided.
    (b) Each local government agency must file a written copy
of its privacy policy with the governing board of the unit of
local government within 30 days after approval of the policy.
Each local government agency must advise its employees of the
existence of the policy and make a copy of the policy available
to each of its employees, and must also make its privacy policy
available to any member of the public, upon request. If a local
government agency amends its privacy policy, then that agency
must file a written copy of the amended policy with the
appropriate entity and must also advise its employees of the
existence of the amended policy and make a copy of the amended
policy available to each of its employees.
    (c) Each local government agency must implement the
components of its identity-protection policy that are
necessary to meet the requirements of this Act within 12 months
after the date the identity-protection policy is approved. This
subsection (c) shall not affect the requirements of Section 10
of this Act.
 
    Section 37. Identity-protection policy; State.
    (a) Each State agency must draft and approve an
identity-protection policy within 12 months after the
effective date of this Act. The policy must do all of the
following:
        (1) Identify this Act.
        (2) Require all employees of the State agency
    identified as having access to social security numbers in
    the course of performing their duties to be trained to
    protect the confidentiality of social security numbers.
    Training should include instructions on proper handling of
    information that contains social security numbers from the
    time of collection through the destruction of the
    information.
        (3) Direct that only employees who are required to use
    or handle information or documents that contain social
    security numbers have access to such information or
    documents.
        (4) Require that social security numbers requested
    from an individual be placed in a manner that makes the
    social security number easily redacted if required to be
    released as part of a public records request.
        (5) Require that, when collecting a social security
    number or upon request by the individual, a statement of
    the purpose or purposes for which the agency is collecting
    and using the social security number be provided.
    (b) Each State agency must provide a copy of its
identity-protection policy to the Social Security Number
Protection Task Force within 30 days after the approval of the
policy.
    (c) Each State agency must implement the components of its
identity-protection policy that are necessary to meet the
requirements of this Act within 12 months after the date the
identity-protection policy is approved. This subsection (c)
shall not affect the requirements of Section 10 of this Act.
 
    Section 40. Judicial branch and clerks of courts. The
judicial branch and clerks of the circuit court are not subject
to the provisions of this Act, except that the Supreme Court
shall, under its rulemaking authority or by administrative
order, adopt requirements applicable to the judicial branch,
including clerks of the circuit court, regulating the
disclosure of social security numbers consistent with the
intent of this Act and the unique circumstances relevant in the
judicial process.
 
    Section 45. Violation. Any person who intentionally
violates the prohibitions in Section 10 of this Act is guilty
of a Class B misdemeanor.
 
    Section 50. Home rule. A home rule unit of local
government, any non-home rule municipality, or any non-home
rule county may regulate the use of social security numbers,
but that regulation must be no less restrictive than this Act.
This Act is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent
exercise by home rule units of powers and functions exercised
by the State.
 
    Section 55. This Act does not supersede any more
restrictive law, rule, or regulation regarding the collection,
use, or disclosure of social security numbers.
 
    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.33 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 805/8.33 new)
    Sec. 8.33. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by the Identity
Protection Act.

Effective Date: 6/1/2010