SB 98-BIOMETRIC INFORMATION FOR ID  9:02:13 AM CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the first order of business would be SB 98. It is similar to a bill introduced last session, which the legislature did not have time to fully consider. It would protect Alaskans from inappropriate use of their fingerprints, retinal patterns, voice patterns, facial characteristics, and other biometric information. SENATOR PASKVAN moved to adopt the committee substitute for SB 98, labeled 27-LS0661\M, as the working document of the committee. CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI objected for discussion purposes. 9:05:32 AM MICHAEL CAULFIELD, staff to Senator Bill Wielechowski, said that SB 98 proposed to update a law already on the books, to protect our privacy rights from emerging new technologies. Senate Bill 217, which passed in 2004, outlaws the collection, analysis, or storage of a law-abiding person's DNA without their written consent. Advances in DNA technology have proven to be of great benefit to society. But DNA science also holds the potential for abuse, including obtaining information that people have a right to keep private. DNA is only one form of biometric information. Physiologic characteristics can also be used, such as facial recognition technology. Through this technology, an individual can be tracked anywhere they go without their knowledge. Another form is the fingerprint. SB 98 will insure that no organization or person takes biometric information from another without their consent. It allows for the use of other identification, such as a passport or state ID card. There are exceptions for some purposes, and the bill does not ban the consensual contribution of biometric information. Alaskans cherish their privacy; the right to privacy is even written into the state constitution. On the most basic level, this should include a right not to have their biometric information collected and disseminated to third parties. SB 98 has broad support from Alaskans. SENATOR COGHILL joined the meeting. CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked Mr. Caulfield to describe the changes from the initial bill to the CS. MR. CAULFIELD said on page 1, line 13, the "and" after passport has been changed to "or." On page 2, line 21, the phrase "biometric information" has been added for clarification. Page 2, line 22 - 25, added exemptions to clarify that the Department of Administration would not be breaking any laws by taking pictures for ID cards. It also added facial images not used in a biometric system. On page 2, lines 30, more types of biometric information were added. Page 30, line 1, they removed the word "palm" from "palm vein recognition" because of new types of vein recognition. CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI noted one concern is the idea that there are cameras literally everywhere and they watch you and know exactly where you are. Most Alaskans instinctively don't like that. 9:09:17 AM SENATOR PASKVAN asked on page 4, line 22, should the words "palm print" be changed. MR. CAULFIELD agreed that should be fixed. 9:10:02 AM JASON GIAIMO, Co-chair, Citizens for Privacy in Alaska, and President, Net Gain Business Consultants of Alaska, Anchorage, said he brought this issue to the attention of several senators two years ago. Data mining and biometrics collection is a big business; it is estimated that industry revenues will exceed $7.5 billion for 2012 alone. Corporate revenues from fingerprints, iris, vein scanning and facial recognition and surveillance make up about 49 percent of that total. Data broker ChoicePoint sells to 7,000 private and government customers, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This is about protecting all Alaskans' privacy in an environment that is increasingly hostile toward privacy protection. This was a good bill last session. It is now an urgent bill, because of the remarkably rapid deterioration in the privacy environment in the last 12 months. There is a bill proposed in Washington, DC right now that is a cornerstone of an immigration reform proposal, and includes a mandatory fingerprinting of Americans for a biometric workers' ID card. 9:18:31 AM This has been proposed by two key senators from the East Coast. This type of proposal makes biometric information an urgent issue in Alaska. All workers would be enrolled in this federal ID card program. MR. GIAIMO said that two and one-half years ago he went to take the last two parts of the CPA exam in Anchorage. It was January of 2008, the security policy had changed, and they wanted his fingerprints. They would not accept a passport, driver's license, or birth certificate as identification. He had never been fingerprinted before. He refused, which was very hard, but he felt it was important to retain his integrity. Because he is also a certified internal auditor, he was able to follow the money trail. He learned that a company called Prometric Corporation, which is a global company with offices in Anchorage, was collecting the fingerprints. They receive a fee for collecting the fingerprints, and they sell them to an international data mining company called ChoicePoint. This company received the largest fine in the history of the Federal Trade Commission for bad privacy policies. This company is being trusted with Alaskans' private information. In the end it is about money, not identification. Many other exams are now requiring fingerprints as ID. A city in Arizona is trying to pass a city ordinance for fingerprinting requirements to receive medicine at a local pharmacy. 9:23:02 AM The Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District is considering mandatory fingerprinting of all low-income school children or they will be denied subsidized lunches. These sorts of things are being pushed by biometrics industry lobbyists. It is about money. Passage of SB 98 will hurt their ability to collect and traffic our personal data. 9:23:59 AM HORST POEPPERL, CEO, Borealis Broadband, Anchorage, testified in support of SB 98. He said in today's world we face an onslaught of organizations determined to extract every piece of personal information possible. This situation is out of hand, and is becoming more and more dangerous for the average citizen. Companies buy and sell this data, and it can also be lost or stolen. The best defense is not giving up the information in the first place. 9:26:11 AM CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI noted the committee also has a letter from the ACLU. He closed public testimony and announced that SB 98 would be held over.