HB 1800 Rep. Copeland
Witnesses Needed! Click below and check the “In Opposition To” box.
Witness Form: https://witness.house.mo.gov/Default.aspx?bill=HB1800¬iceid=8487
One of our most unique and valuable personal identifiers are our fingerprints.
When it comes to ensuring the safety of our loved ones, few will deny the use of reasonable safety measures to keep individuals out of harm’s way.
On the surface, HB 1800 may seem beneficial, but after combing through the details, it actually raises several concerns. The article below & subsequent links offer a look at potential issues.
As it stands, the current statute reads “may” require fingerprints and criminal history. To do the background check, the person “shall” submit fingerprints. The information would be shared with Highway Patrol, retained, and “shall” be forwarded to the FBI.
Persons expected to submit fingerprints:
- Medicaid Applicants
- State employees
- Department of Revenue Applicants
- Host of professionals of various employment backgrounds & vocational disciplines
- Persons requesting liquor license & permit
Questions raised while navigating this lengthy bill:
- Who will ensure our Right to Privacy when it comes to our Personally Identifiable Information? At first it’s just our fingerprints, then it may lead to other personal biometrics, such as iris scans or voice data.
- What protocols are in place to protect our data?
- Who else has access to our data besides Highway Patrol & the FBI?
- Given the fact technology is rife with those who may have malicious intent for one’s personal data, why create more opportunities for said data to be breached?
“In recent years, biometric surveillance has grown more sophisticated and pervasive, posing new threats to privacy and civil rights,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Today’s policy statement makes clear that companies must comply with the law regardless of the technology they are using.”
The FBI is currently building its Next Generation Identification database, which will contain fingerprints, palm prints, iris scans, voice data and photographs of faces. Before long, even your cell phone will be secured by information that resides in a distant biometric database.
Biometric Security Poses Huge Privacy Risks – Scientific American
https://termly.io/resources/articles/sensitive-personal-information/
But even with biometrics gaining popularity, there are district advantages to the collection of fingerprints.
“Several factors contribute to fingerprint technology’s popularity over other biometrics: it is recognized as a legal representation of a person’s signature, and its reliability as a fingerprint pattern does not change over a person’s lifetime. Most significant is the required low hardware cost and high portability — it only takes 120Byte to 180 Byte (~1kbit) of memory to store a set of unique features (minutiae) that represents a fingerprint.
https://semiengineering.com/fingerprint-senor-technology-and-security-requirements/
Where do the rights of law-abiding citizens begin and end? Many do not feel comfortable having their personal identifiable information readily accessible to potential employers or unvetted, third parties. It poses a significant risk for security breaches and/or identity theft.
Several states have passed laws that restrict the information employers can gather from applicants. According to the SHRM Foundation “…at a time when many people are struggling to make ends meet, some legislators and employment experts argue that using credit reports in this manner is unfair—and not particularly useful, since these screens are irrelevant to many positions and may be more likely to reflect economic hardship than a lack of judgment. Indeed, a growing number of states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, restrict companies from making employment decisions based on an applicant’s credit report.”
https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/increasing-risks-background-checks
We encourage you to thoroughly read through this bill. If, after reading it in its entirety, you have reservations regarding the contents, please call Representative Ron Copeland’s office & voice your concerns. Ph. 573-751-1688.
https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills241/hlrbillspdf/4300H.01I.pdf
This bill is heard in the Professional Registration and Licensing (House) committee this morning. The committee is accepting witness forms on this bill until midnight.
If you have concerns about this bill, we urge you to fill out a witness form below and let the committee know. IHCM recommends opposing this bill. If you agree, please check the box, “In Opposition To”
Witness Form: https://witness.house.mo.gov/Default.aspx?bill=HB1800¬iceid=8487
Please do this ASAP! Deadline for submitting this form is midnight Thursday Feb 22.
Thank you!
IHCM Legislative Team
ihcm.info
