A bill [pdf] making its way through the Hawaiian state legislature would force ISPs to retain all users’ data for two years, allowing tracking of all web site data. This information would then be available to law enforcement without a warrant. All they need to do is ask for it.
The measure, H.B. 2288, says “Internet destination history information” and “subscriber’s information” such as name and address must be saved for two years.
Democrat Jill Tokuda, the Hawaii Senate’s majority whip, who introduced a companion bill, S.B. 2530, in the Senate, told CNET that her legislation was intended to address concerns raised by Rep. Kymberly Pine, the first Republican elected to her Oahu district since statehood and the House minority floor leader.
“I was asked to introduce the Senate companions on these Internet security related bills by Representative Kymberly Marcos Pine after her own personal experience in this area,” Tokuda said. “I would defer to her on the origins of these bills as she has done the research and outreach, and been the main champion of this effort.”
Pine, who did not immediately respond to queries, has been targeted by a disgruntled Web designer, Eric Ryan, who launched KymPineIsACrook.com and claims she owes him money, according to an article last summer in the Hawaii Reporter. Her e-mail account was also reportedly hacked around the same time. The article said Pine would advocate for “tougher cyber laws at the Hawaii State Capitol” as a result.
“We must do everything we can to protect the people of Hawaii from these attacks and give prosecutors the tools to ensure justice is served for victims,” Pine said at the time.
The problem here is that this a personal, knee-jerk response to a specific situation that can be taken care of already with the appropriate laws already on the books. What Kym Pine doesn’t realize is that this bill will have unintended consequences for her. If this bill were to become a law, she would be subjected to it as well. You can guarantee that people will start requesting information about her. It will not make her life any easier and people like Eric Ryan will use it to harass her further.
This bill has no privacy protections, no encryption protocols, and doesn’t limit anyone from selling the data collected. It does, however, remove the restriction of law that the police must obtain a court order before obtaining the information. Law enforcement merely needs to request the data.
Politicians need to start learning the law that is already out there and using it to prosecute people if they think the law is being broken. These types of laws do nothing other than erode the privacy that Americans already have and take for granted. Stomping on the fourth and fourteenth amendments should not be an option.
EDIT: Due to pressure, the Hawaiian legislature has decided to table the bill.
