Last month, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott rendered an opinion that government bodies are prohibited from disclosing Social Security Numbers in government records, and that disclosing such information is a criminal offense under the Public Information Act.
As a result, Texas county clerks
stopped providing public access to government information until they could determine how to redact such information.
Then, according to today's Austin
American-Statesman the Texas Legislature passed bills exempting clerks from liability for releasing private information. Now Texas Rep. Carl Isett says the Legislature has ignored citizen privacy and Isett has authored a bill --
HB 59 -- to protect privacy.
The bill states that a non-governmental business may not require a biometric identifier, and puts in new requirements and stipulations on the display or dissemination of Social Security numbers.
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.