HBA-JLV C.S.H.B. 2589 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2589 By: Hochberg State Affairs 4/6/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE State agencies with budgets exceeding a certain amount are required to maintain a generally accessible Internet site. In addition to specified information, such as budget, rules, and contracts, many sites also include commonly requested information such as hearing announcements, program descriptions, or publications. Currently there is no requirement for a state agency to post a notice stipulating the conditions of use for information copied from a state agency Internet site. Therefore some sites post a privacy policy notice or disclaimer, while others do not. Well-run commercial Internet sites clearly state a policy of use, often referred to as "terms of service." A terms of service statement informs an individual of the requirements regarding the use of information taken from an Internet site. C.S.H.B. 2589 requires the Department of Information Resources to create a terms of service statement for state agency Internet sites. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2589 amends the Government Code to require the Department of Information Resources (department) to adopt a policy that prescribes terms under which a person may use, copy information from, or link to a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency, and which protects the personal information of members of the public who access information from or through a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency. The bill requires the department to post the policy on its Internet site. All state agencies are required to prominently post a link to the policy statement on a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for that agency. The bill requires that the policy include a statement: _generally allowing the use and reproduction of information on a state agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission, subject to specified conditions; _generally allowing linking from any web page to any page on a state agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission; _prohibiting a state agency from charging a fee to access, use, reproduce information on, or link to its Internet site except to the extent the state agency is specifically authorized to do so by the legislature; _requiring that the state agency's Internet site be credited as the source of information reproduced from the site and requiring that the date that the material was reproduced from the site be clearly stated; _prohibiting a state agency from selling or releasing an e-mail address of a member of the public unless the member of the public affirmatively consents to the sale or release of the e-mail address; and _specifying other policies necessary to protect from public disclosure personal information submitted by a member of the public to a state agency's Internet site to the extent the information is confidential, excepted from public disclosure, and protected by other law intended to protect a person's privacy interests. The bill provides that the e- mail address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body is confidential and not subject to disclosure. The bill provides that confidential information that relates to a member of the public may be disclosed if the member of the public affirmatively consents to its release. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2589 modifies the original to conform to Texas Legislative Council style and format. The substitute requires the Department of Information Resources (department) to protect the personal information, rather than the identity, of members of the public who access information from or through a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency.