Bill Text: HI HB637 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Violation of Privacy; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-28 - Referred to TRN, JUD, FIN, referral sheet 2 [HB637 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HB637-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	637
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

Relating to violation of privacy.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

          SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that technological advances have provided new and unique equipment that may be utilized for unauthorized or harassing surveillance purposes.  These technological advances often outpace statutory protections and present a substantial privacy risk potentially contrary to the strong privacy protections enshrined in the Hawaii State Constitution.  The legislature also finds that the proliferation of accessibility and use of unmanned aerial vehicles or "drones" creates uncertainty of privacy protections for citizens throughout Hawaii, and that such privacy protections need to be clarified. 

     The purpose of this Act is to amend the offenses of violation of privacy in the first and second degrees to specifically address the use of drones in the commission of these offenses.

     SECTION 2.  Section 711-1100, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

     ""Unmanned aerial vehicle" means an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft."

     SECTION 3.  Section 711-1110.9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:

     "§711-1110.9  Violation of privacy in the first degree.  (1)  A person commits the offense of violation of privacy in the first degree if, except in the execution of a public duty or as authorized by law:

     (a)  The person intentionally or knowingly installs or uses, or both, in or on the premises of any private place, without consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein, any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for observing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting another person in a stage of undress or sexual activity in that place; or

     (b)  The person knowingly discloses an image or video of another identifiable person either in the nude, as defined in section 712-1210, or engaging in sexual conduct, as defined in section 712-1210, without the consent of the depicted person, with intent to harm substantially the depicted person with respect to that person's health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation, or personal relationships; provided that:

         (i)  This paragraph shall not apply to images or videos of the depicted person made:

              (A)  When the person was voluntarily nude in public or voluntarily engaging in sexual conduct in public; or

              (B)  Pursuant to a voluntary commercial transaction; and

        (ii)  Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to impose liability on a provider of "electronic communication service" or "remote computing service" as those terms are defined in section 803-41, for an image or video disclosed through the electronic communication service or remote computing service by another person."

     SECTION 4.  Section 711-1111, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (1) to read as follows:

     "§711-1111  Violation of privacy in the second degree.  (1)  A person commits the offense of violation of privacy in the second degree if, except in the execution of a public duty or as authorized by law, the person intentionally:

     (a)  Trespasses on property for the purpose of subjecting anyone to eavesdropping or other surveillance in a private place;

     (b)  Peers or peeps into a window or other opening of a dwelling or other structure adapted for sojourn or overnight accommodations for the purpose of spying on the occupant thereof or invading the privacy of another person with a lewd or unlawful purpose, under circumstances in which a reasonable person in the dwelling or other structure would not expect to be observed;

     (c)  Trespasses on property for the sexual gratification of the actor;

     (d)  Installs or uses, or both, in or on the premises of any private place, without consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein, any means or device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for observing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds or events in that place other than another person in a stage of undress or sexual activity;

     (e)  Installs or uses outside a private place any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, for hearing, recording, amplifying, or broadcasting sounds originating in that place which would not ordinarily be audible or comprehensible outside, without the consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy therein;

     (f)  Covertly records or broadcasts an image of another person's intimate area underneath clothing, by use of any device, including an unmanned aerial vehicle, and that image is taken while that person is in a public place and without that person's consent;

     (g)  Intercepts, without the consent of the sender or receiver, a message or photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter, electronic transmission, or other means of communicating privately; but this paragraph does not apply to:

         (i)  Overhearing of messages through a regularly installed instrument on a telephone party line or an extension; or

        (ii)  Interception by the telephone company, electronic mail account provider, or telephone or electronic mail subscriber incident to enforcement of regulations limiting use of the facilities or incident to other operation and use;

     (h)  Divulges, without the consent of the sender or the receiver, the existence or contents of any message or photographic image by telephone, telegraph, letter, electronic transmission, or other means of communicating privately, if the accused knows that the message or photographic image was unlawfully intercepted or if the accused learned of the message or photographic image in the course of employment with an agency engaged in transmitting it; or

     (i)  Knowingly possesses materials created under circumstances prohibited in section 711-1110.9."

     SECTION 5.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Violation of Privacy; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

 

Description:

Amend the offenses of violation of privacy in the first and second degrees to specifically address the use of unmanned aerial vehicles or "drones" in the commission of these offenses.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.