2023 Bills

HB 343: Government Records Modifictions

This bill passed the House 68-1 and passed the Senate unanimously. Review our tracker for more information.

Libertas Institute supports this bill

Staff review of this legislation finds that it aligns with our principles and should therefore be passed into law.

House Bill 343, sponsored by Representative Jefferson Moss, requires executive agencies to establish and implement best practices to ensure personally identifiable information is handled with care by government agents.

This bill requires agencies to hire privacy officers. These officers oversee the inventory of personally identifiable information (PII) within the agency’s care, establish best practices for privacy protocols, and ensure agents are sufficiently trained.

Additionally, this legislation bars agencies from collecting, maintaining, or using PII without complying with privacy protocols and establishes background check procedures for agents who have access to vulnerable information.

HB 343 establishes reasonable standards that work to ensure the PII available to government agencies is handled with care. Given how much information is handled on digital infrastructure, it is essential for agencies handling public data to establish and follow privacy protocols.

For these reasons Libertas supports this bill.