1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to data privacy; regulating electronic mail 
  1.3             solicitations; protecting privacy of Internet 
  1.4             consumers; regulating use of information about 
  1.5             Internet users; providing penalties; proposing coding 
  1.6             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 325F; 
  1.7             proposing coding for new law as Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.8             chapter 325M. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10                             ARTICLE 1
  1.11                          INTERNET PRIVACY
  1.12     Section 1.  [325M.01] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.13     Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] The terms used in this chapter 
  1.14  have the meanings given them in this section. 
  1.15     Subd. 2.  [CONSUMER.] "Consumer" means a person who agrees 
  1.16  to pay a fee for access to an interactive services provider for 
  1.17  personal, family, or household purposes. 
  1.18     Subd. 3.  [INTERACTIVE SERVICES PROVIDER.] "Interactive 
  1.19  services provider" means a person in the primary business of 
  1.20  offering access to online or Internet information directly to or 
  1.21  for a consumer via telecommunications.  "Interactive services" 
  1.22  includes electronic publishing but does not include: 
  1.23     (1) service provided to business, professional, or 
  1.24  commercial users; 
  1.25     (2) use of the capability for managing, controlling, or 
  1.26  operating a telecommunications system or managing a 
  1.27  telecommunications service; or 
  2.1      (3) service provided by a governmental entity. 
  2.2      Subd. 4.  [ORDINARY COURSE OF BUSINESS.] "Ordinary course 
  2.3   of business" means debt-collection activities, order 
  2.4   fulfillment, request processing, or the transfer of ownership. 
  2.5      Subd. 5.  [PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.] 
  2.6   "Personally identifiable information" means information that 
  2.7   identifies: 
  2.8      (1) a person by physical or electronic address or telephone 
  2.9   number; 
  2.10     (2) a person as having requested or obtained specific 
  2.11  materials or services from an interactive services provider; 
  2.12     (3) Internet or online sites visited by a person; or 
  2.13     (4) any of the contents of a person's data-storage devices. 
  2.14     Subd. 6.  [TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.] "Telecommunications 
  2.15  service" means the offering, on a common carrier basis, of 
  2.16  telecommunications facilities or of telecommunications by means 
  2.17  of these facilities.  It does not include services offered by an 
  2.18  interactive services provider. 
  2.19     Sec. 2.  [325M.02] [WHEN DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 
  2.20  PROHIBITED.] 
  2.21     Except as provided in sections 325M.03 and 325M.04, an 
  2.22  interactive services provider may not knowingly disclose 
  2.23  personally identifiable information concerning a consumer of the 
  2.24  interactive services provider. 
  2.25     Sec. 3.  [325M.03] [WHEN DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 
  2.26  REQUIRED.] 
  2.27     An interactive services provider shall disclose personally 
  2.28  identifiable information concerning a consumer: 
  2.29     (1) to a grand jury pursuant to a grand jury subpoena; 
  2.30     (2) to an investigative or law enforcement officer as 
  2.31  defined in section 626A.01, subdivision 7, while carrying out 
  2.32  conduct authorized by chapter 626A or United States Code, title 
  2.33  18, sections 2510 to 2521; 
  2.34     (3) pursuant to a court order in a civil proceeding upon a 
  2.35  showing of compelling need for the information that cannot be 
  2.36  accommodated by other means; 
  3.1      (4) to a court in a civil action for conversion commenced 
  3.2   by the interactive services provider or in a civil action to 
  3.3   enforce collection of unpaid subscription fees or purchase 
  3.4   amounts, and then only to the extent necessary to establish the 
  3.5   fact of the subscription delinquency or purchase agreement, and 
  3.6   with appropriate safeguards against unauthorized disclosure; or 
  3.7      (5) to the consumer who is the subject of the information, 
  3.8   upon written request. 
  3.9      Sec. 4.  [325M.04] [WHEN DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 
  3.10  PERMITTED; AUTHORIZATION.] 
  3.11     Subdivision 1.  [CONDITIONS OF DISCLOSURE.] An interactive 
  3.12  services provider may disclose personally identifiable 
  3.13  information concerning a consumer to: 
  3.14     (1) any person if the disclosure is incident to the 
  3.15  ordinary course of business of the interactive services 
  3.16  provider; or 
  3.17     (2) any person with the authorization of the consumer. 
  3.18     Subd. 2.  [AUTHORIZATION.] The interactive services 
  3.19  provider may obtain the consumer's authorization of the 
  3.20  disclosure of personally identifiable information in writing or 
  3.21  by electronic means.  The request for authorization must 
  3.22  reasonably describe the types of persons to whom personally 
  3.23  identifiable information may be disclosed and the anticipated 
  3.24  uses of the information and must notify the consumer that 
  3.25  failure to object to disclosure constitutes an authorization of 
  3.26  disclosure.  An authorization may be obtained in a manner 
  3.27  consistent with self-regulating guidelines issued by 
  3.28  representatives of the interactive services provider industry or 
  3.29  other representatives of the marketing or online industries, or 
  3.30  in any other manner reasonably designed to comply with this 
  3.31  subdivision. 
  3.32     Sec. 5.  [325M.05] [SECURED ACCOUNT.] 
  3.33     The interactive services provider shall provide the 
  3.34  consumer with a secured, verifiable account.  The interactive 
  3.35  services provider shall maintain the security and privacy of a 
  3.36  consumer's personally identifiable information concerning this 
  4.1   account.  The interactive services provider is not liable for 
  4.2   actions that would constitute a violation of section 609.87, 
  4.3   609.89, or 609.891, if the interactive services provider does 
  4.4   not participate in, authorize, or approve such actions. 
  4.5      Sec. 6.  [325M.06] [EXCLUSION FROM EVIDENCE.] 
  4.6      Personally identifiable information obtained in any manner 
  4.7   other than as provided in this chapter may not be received in 
  4.8   evidence in any trial, hearing, arbitration, or other proceeding 
  4.9   before any court, grand jury, officer, agency, regulatory body, 
  4.10  legislative committee, or other authority of the state or any 
  4.11  political subdivision. 
  4.12     Sec. 7.  [325M.07] [ENFORCEMENT; CIVIL LIABILITY.] 
  4.13     A consumer who prevails or substantially prevails in an 
  4.14  action brought under sections 325M.01 to 325M.08 is entitled to 
  4.15  the greater of $500 or actual damages, plus costs, 
  4.16  disbursements, and reasonable attorney fees. 
  4.17     Sec. 8.  [325M.08] [OTHER LAW.] 
  4.18     This chapter does not limit any greater protection of the 
  4.19  privacy of information under other law. 
  4.20     Sec. 9.  [325M.09] [APPLICATION.] 
  4.21     This chapter applies to interactive services providers in 
  4.22  the provision of services to consumers in this state. 
  4.23                             ARTICLE 2
  4.24              COMMERCIAL ELECTRONIC MAIL SOLICITATION
  4.25     Section 1.  [325F.694] [FALSE OR MISLEADING COMMERCIAL 
  4.26  ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES.] 
  4.27     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) The terms used in this 
  4.28  section have the meanings given them in this subdivision. 
  4.29     (b) "Commercial electronic mail message" means an 
  4.30  electronic mail (e-mail) message sent through an interactive 
  4.31  computer service provider's facilities located in this state to 
  4.32  a resident of this state for promoting goods or services for 
  4.33  sale or lease. 
  4.34     (c) "Electronic mail address" or "e-mail address" means a 
  4.35  destination, commonly expressed as a string of characters, to 
  4.36  which electronic mail may be sent or delivered. 
  5.1      (d) "Initiate the transmission" refers to the action by the 
  5.2   original sender of an electronic mail message, not to the action 
  5.3   by an intervening interactive computer service that may handle 
  5.4   or retransmit the message. 
  5.5      (e) "Interactive computer service" means any information 
  5.6   service, system, or access software provider that provides or 
  5.7   enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, 
  5.8   including a service or system that provides access to the 
  5.9   Internet and these systems operated or services offered by 
  5.10  libraries or educational institutions. 
  5.11     (f) "Internet domain name" refers to a globally unique, 
  5.12  hierarchical reference to an Internet host or service, assigned 
  5.13  through centralized Internet naming authorities, comprising a 
  5.14  series of character strings separated by periods, with the 
  5.15  rightmost string specifying the top of the hierarchy. 
  5.16     Subd. 2.  [FALSE OR MISLEADING MESSAGES PROHIBITED.] No 
  5.17  person may initiate the transmission of a commercial electronic 
  5.18  mail message that: 
  5.19     (1) uses a third party's Internet domain name without 
  5.20  permission of the third party, or otherwise misrepresents any 
  5.21  information in identifying the point of origin or the 
  5.22  transmission path of a commercial electronic mail message; or 
  5.23     (2) contains false or misleading information in the subject 
  5.24  line. 
  5.25     Subd. 3.  [SUBJECT DISCLOSURE.] The subject line of a 
  5.26  commercial electronic mail message must include "ADV" as the 
  5.27  first characters.  If the message contains information that 
  5.28  consists of material that may only be viewed by an individual 18 
  5.29  years of age and older, the subject line of the message must 
  5.30  include "ADV-ADULT" as the first characters.  This subdivision 
  5.31  applies to messages to a recipient who did not request the 
  5.32  document or with whom the initiator did not have a prior or 
  5.33  current business or personal relationship.  
  5.34     Subd. 4.  [TOLL-FREE NUMBER.] (a) A sender initiating the 
  5.35  transmission of a commercial electronic mail message must 
  5.36  establish a toll-free telephone number or valid sender-operated 
  6.1   return e-mail address that the recipient of the documents may 
  6.2   call or access by e-mail to notify the sender not to transmit by 
  6.3   e-mail any further unsolicited documents.  
  6.4      (b) A commercial electronic mail message must include a 
  6.5   statement informing the recipient of the toll-free telephone 
  6.6   number that the recipient may call, or a valid return address to 
  6.7   which the recipient may write or access by e-mail, notifying the 
  6.8   sender not to transmit to the recipient by e-mail any further 
  6.9   unsolicited documents to the e-mail address, or addresses, 
  6.10  specified by the recipient.  
  6.11     Subd. 5.  [BLOCKING RECEIPT OR TRANSMISSION.] (a) An 
  6.12  interactive computer service, upon its own initiative, may block 
  6.13  the receipt or transmission through its service of any 
  6.14  commercial electronic mail that it reasonably believes is, or 
  6.15  will be, sent in violation of this section. 
  6.16     (b) No interactive computer service may be held liable for 
  6.17  any action voluntarily taken in good faith to block the receipt 
  6.18  or transmission through its service of any commercial electronic 
  6.19  mail that it reasonably believes is, or will be, sent in 
  6.20  violation of this section. 
  6.21     Subd. 6.  [DAMAGES.] In addition to remedies available 
  6.22  under section 8.31, 325F.70, or other law: 
  6.23     (1) a recipient of a commercial electronic mail message 
  6.24  sent in violation of this section is entitled to damages of 
  6.25  $500, or actual damages, whichever is greater; and 
  6.26     (2) an interactive computer service that is injured by a 
  6.27  violation of this section is entitled to damages of $1,000, or 
  6.28  actual damages, whichever is greater.