HB2954 EnrolledLRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Civil
5Liability for Doxing Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
7    "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of
82 or more acts, evidencing a continuity of purpose.
9    "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs,
10signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any
11nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio,
12electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system.
13    "Emotional distress" means significant mental suffering,
14anxiety, or alarm. "Emotional distress" is limited to
15emotional suffering that is protracted and not merely trivial
16or transitory.
17    "Family or household member" has the meaning given to the
18term "family or household members" in Section 103 of the
19Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
20    "Personally identifiable information" means any
21information that can be used to distinguish or trace a
22person's identity, such as name, prior legal name, alias,
23mother's maiden name, and date or place of birth in

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 2 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1combination with any other information that is linked or
2linkable to a person such as:
3        (1) social security number, home address, phone
4    number, email address, social media accounts, or biometric
5    data;
6        (2) medical, financial, education, consumer, or
7    employment information, data, or records;
8        (3) any other sensitive or private information that is
9    linked or linkable to a specific identifiable person, such
10    as gender identity, sexual orientation, or any sexually
11    intimate visual depiction; or
12        (4) any information that provides access to a person's
13    teleconferencing, video-teleconferencing, or other
14    digital meeting room.
15    "Post" means to circulate, deliver, distribute,
16disseminate, transmit, or otherwise make available to 2 or
17more persons through electronic communication.
18    "Publish" means to circulate, deliver, distribute,
19disseminate, post, transmit, or otherwise make available to
20another person. "Publish" does not include writing or
21electronically communicating to one other person in private
22communications for which an individual has a reasonable
23expectation of privacy.
24    "Regularly resides" means residing in the household with
25some permanency or regular frequency in the person's living
26arrangement.

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 3 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1    "Stalk" or "stalking" has the meaning provided in Section
212-7.3 of the Criminal Code of 2012, except that "stalking"
3does not include an activity that is part of a protest that is
4protected by the United States Constitution or the Illinois
5Constitution.
6    "Substantial life disruption" means a material and
7significant alteration of an individual's livelihood.
8"Substantial life disruption" may include, but is not limited
9to, moving from an established residence, changing routes to
10and from work, changing employment or work schedule, or losing
11time at work or a job.
 
12    Section 10. Doxing.
13    (a) An individual engages in the act of doxing when that
14individual intentionally publishes another person's personally
15identifiable information without the consent of the person
16whose information is published and:
17        (1) the information is published with the intent that
18    it be used to harm or harass the person whose information
19    is published and with knowledge or reckless disregard that
20    the person whose information is published would be
21    reasonably likely to suffer death, bodily injury, or
22    stalking; and
23        (2) the publishing of the information:
24            (i) causes the person whose information is
25        published to suffer significant economic injury or

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 4 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1        emotional distress or to fear serious bodily injury or
2        death of the person or a family or household member of
3        the person; or
4            (ii) causes the person whose information is
5        published to suffer a substantial life disruption; and
6        (3) the person whose information is published is
7    identifiable from the published personally identifiable
8    information itself.
9    (b) It is not an offense under this Act for an individual
10to:
11        (1) provide another person's personally identifiable
12    information or sensitive personal information in
13    connection with the reporting of criminal activity to an
14    employee of a law enforcement agency or in connection with
15    any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or
16    intelligence activity of any law enforcement agency or of
17    an intelligence agency of the United States and the person
18    making the report reasonably believes the alleged criminal
19    activity occurred or the existing investigative,
20    protective, or intelligence activity is legitimate;
21        (2) disseminate the personally identifiable
22    information for the purpose of, or in connection with, the
23    reporting of conduct reasonably believed to be unlawful;
24    or
25        (3) provide a person's personally identifiable
26    information in connection with activity protected under

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 5 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1    the United States Constitution or the Illinois
2    Constitution pertaining to speech, press, assembly,
3    protest, and petition, as well as the provision of
4    personally identifiable information to the press.
5    (c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed in any manner
6to:
7        (1) conflict with Section 230 of Title II of the
8    Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230);
9        (2) conflict with 42 U.S.C. 1983; or
10        (3) prohibit any activity protected under the
11    Constitution of the United States or the Illinois
12    Constitution.
 
13    Section 15. Civil action.
14    (a) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of this Act
15may bring a civil action against (i) the individual who
16committed the offense of doxing or (ii) any individual or
17entity that directs one or more persons to violate this Act and
18that knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything
19of value, from participation in a venture that the individual
20or entity knew involved a violation of this Act.
21    (b) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of this Act
22may recover damages and any other appropriate relief,
23including reasonable attorney's fees.
24    (c) An individual who is found liable under this Act shall
25be jointly and severally liable with each other individual, if

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 6 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1any, who is found liable under this Act for damages arising
2from the same violation of this Act.
3    (d) When a judgment is entered in favor of an individual
4alleged to have committed the offense of doxing, the court may
5award reasonable costs and attorney's fees to the defendant
6for defending any claim that the court finds was brought by the
7plaintiff and that the court finds was frivolous, baseless, or
8brought in bad faith.
 
9    Section 20. Injunctive relief.
10    (a) A court in which a suit is brought under this Act, on
11the motion of a party, may issue a temporary restraining
12order, emergency order of protection, or preliminary or
13permanent injunction to restrain and prevent the disclosure or
14continued disclosure of a person's personally identifiable
15information or sensitive personal information. Upon a motion
16by a party in a civil action brought under this Act, and
17following a full evidentiary hearing, a court may issue an
18order pursuant to this Section to prevent the publishing of a
19person's personally identifiable information or sensitive
20personal information if the court finds by clear and
21convincing evidence each of the following:
22        (1) the individual to be enjoined published personally
23    identifiable information or sensitive personal information
24    in violation of this Act;
25        (2) continued or further publishing of the personally

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 7 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1    identifiable information or sensitive personal information
2    poses a present and ongoing risk of death, bodily injury,
3    or stalking to another individual; and
4        (3) the individual to be enjoined has no lawful or
5    constitutional purpose for continued or further publishing
6    of the personally identifiable information or sensitive
7    personal information.
8    (b) Any injunctive relief granted under this Section shall
9state the following with sufficient particularity to allow
10appellate review:
11        (1) the required findings in subsection (a) of Section
12    20 and the evidentiary basis and reasoning for the
13    findings;
14        (2) the expiration date of the injunction, which shall
15    be no more than one year from the date of its entry;
16        (3) that the enjoined individual may seek relief from
17    the injunction, if the court determines, after notice and
18    hearing, that one or more of the required findings in
19    subsection (a) of Section 20 no longer apply; and
20        (4) that the person who sought the injunction may seek
21    an extension of the order of no more than one year if the
22    court determines, after notice and hearing, that the
23    required findings in subsection (a) of Section 20 continue
24    to apply.
25    (c) If a person violates any order issued under this
26Section, the court, in its discretion, may grant any civil

 

 

HB2954 Enrolled- 8 -LRB103 30878 LNS 57401 b

1remedy under State law.
 
2    Section 25. Venue. A civil action may be brought in any
3county in which an element of the offense occurred, or in which
4a person resides who is the subject of personally identifiable
5information published in violation of this Act.
 
6    Section 30. Constitutionality. The General Assembly does
7not intend this Act to allow, and this Act shall not allow,
8actions to be brought against constitutionally protected
9activity.
 
10    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
11severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.