Last-minute DOB privacy legislation, Part II
We just got word tonight that Rep. Randy Terrill has filed new legislation that will close off the dates of birth of all public employees in Oklahoma. This is despite the fact that the state makes millions selling the same information for registered voters, licensed drivers and college students.
Sensing that a standalone bill like the changes to HB 3382 made last week was unlikely to survive scrutiny by his fellow House members, it now looks like Terrill, R-Moore, has put the language into a so-called omnibus bill dealing with the state Department of Corrections.
The lengthy conference committee substitute for HB 3379 was filed this evening with the following provision:
D. Public bodies The Department of Corrections shall keep confidential the home address, telephone numbers and, social security numbers, employee identification number and birth date of any person employed or formerly employed by the public body.
The next section then takes the exemption for DOC employees and makes it applicable to all public bodies. It also renders moot a pending Open Records Act request by The Oklahoman for the birth dates of public employees by making the bill retroactive:
E. The provisions of subsection D of this section shall be applicable to all public bodies and to any request made pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Open Records Act prior to the effective date of this act for which a public body has not provided a response as of the effective date of this act.
It’s my understanding that new legislation has to sit on the House calendar for at least 24 hours before being considered by the House. That means this bill could come up for a vote as early as Wednesday evening.
For previous blog coverage of this issue, check out the following posts:
- Oklahoma brings in millions by selling personal data
- Special mailing list deal for Oklahoma Public Employees Association
- “Privacy pirates” and the politics of fear
- DOB bill compromise attacks spirit of Open Records Act
- Public employee date of birth bill resurrected
–Paul
Written by Paul Monies
Follow @pmonies
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Comments
P, why should public employees have *more* privacy protections than voters and drivers? That’s what this is all about.
And you’d be surprised how many public employees are not registered voters.
[...] BILL: House Bill 3382 made audio and video recordings taken from Oklahoma Highway Patrol cruisers public records in [...]
If we are working for the government then we likely are already registered voters, possessing a drivers license, or, in some cases, even students. How are we protected then if you don’t get my personal information specifically from this act? You can still obtain it from these other sources that you are concerned about. I work with violent people who I often have to anger in order to get my job done. Why should it be even easier for them to come to my home and harm me or my family for simply doing a job that all of you out there complaining about this would never do.