HB 1535-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2538
02/05
HOUSE BILL 1535-FN
AN ACT relative to prohibiting mandatory participation in digital identification systems.
SPONSORS: Rep. Gerhard, Merr. 25
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits mandatory participation in any type of digital identification.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2538
02/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to prohibiting mandatory participation in digital identification systems.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Mandatory Digital Identification Prohibited. Amend RSA 644 by inserting after section 22 the following new section:
644:22-a Mandatory Digital Identification Prohibited.
I. For purposes of this section:
(a) "Government" means the federal government, the state government and its political subdivisions, and state and municipal agencies and departments, including employees, agents, and contractors.
(b) "Digital Identification" means a set of digitally captured attributes, such as name, date of birth, gender or other personal information combined with credentials that are linked to a unique identifier.
(c) "Individual" means a living human being.
(d) "Person" means a partnership, limited liability company, corporation, and any other organization, including for-profit and not-for-profit entities, and government.
(e) "Personal information" means any data elements, alone or in conjunction with any other information, used to identify an individual, including without limitation name, address, telephone and/or cellular telephone number, email address, date of birth, unique personal identifier or account number, and fingerprint or other biometric identifier.
(f) "Require, coerce, or compel" includes physical violence, threat, intimidation, retaliation, the conditioning of any private or public benefit or care on consent to participation, including employment, promotion, or other employment benefit, or by any means that causes a reasonable person of ordinary susceptibilities to acquiesce to participation when he or she otherwise would not.
II. Except as provided in paragraph V, a person shall not require, coerce, or compel an individual to participate in any digital identification. This section shall not apply to inmates incarcerated in or under the control of a government-run prison or jail.
III.(a) Any person who violates this section may be assessed an initial civil penalty of no more than $10,000, and no more than $1,000 for each day the violation continues until the deficiency is corrected. That civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction. The court may also grant a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees and litigation costs.
(b) An individual who is required, coerced, or compelled to participate in any digital identification in violation of this section may bring a civil action for actual damages, compensatory damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other appropriate relief.
(c) Additionally, punitive damages may also be awarded upon proof of the defendant's malice, oppression, fraud, or duress in requiring, coercing, or compelling the plaintiff to participate in any digital identification.
IV.(a) An action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced within 3 years of the date upon which the plaintiff was required, coerced, or compelled to participate.
(b) If the victim was a dependent adult or minor when the incident occurred, actions brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced within 3 years after the date the plaintiff, or his or her guardian or parent, discovered or reasonably should have discovered the incident, or within 8 years after the plaintiff attains the age of majority, whichever date occurs later.
V. This section shall not in any way modify existing statutory or case law regarding the rights of parents or guardians, the rights of children or minors, or the rights of dependent adults.
VI. The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed so as to protect privacy.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.
24-2538
11/24/23
HB 1535-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to prohibiting mandatory participation in digital identification systems.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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Estimated State Impact - Increase / (Decrease) | ||||||
| FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | FY 2027 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None | |||||
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | ||
Funding Source(s) | General Fund | |||||
Appropriations | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
• Does this bill provide sufficient funding to cover estimated expenditures? [X] N/A • Does this bill authorize new positions to implement this bill? [X] N/A | ||||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill prohibits mandatory participation in any type of digital identification. The bill provides that an individual may bring a civil action in the form of damages and relief. There is no estimate on the number of civil actions that may occur as a result of this bill, but the Judicial Branch has provided information on the average cost of civil cases in the Superior Court:
NH Judicial Branch Average Civil Case Estimates
Judicial Branch Average Cost | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
Superior Court Complex Civil Case | $1,320.96 | $1,347.38 |
Superior Court Routine Civil Case | $493.64 | $503.51 |
Common Civil Case Fees
Superior Court Fees | As of 2/12/2020 |
Original Entry Fee | $280 |
Third-Party Claim | $280 |
Motion to Reopen | $160 |
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Judicial Branch