Introduced Version
Senate Bill 45 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 45
(By Senator Barnes)
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[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §17B-2-6a, relating
to providing a religious exemption to the collection of Social
Security numbers and information usable with biometric
information when issuing driver's licenses; and rule-making
authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §17B-2-6a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-6a. Biometric driver license religious exemption.
(a) Beginning on the effective date of this section, the Division of Motor Vehicles or other state agency or department
charged with motor vehicle registration or operation, the issuance
or renewal of driver licenses or the issuance or renewal of any
identification cards, shall modify the application to include the
following statement:
"BIOMETRIC AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER RELIGIOUS
EXEMPTION: Because of my religious beliefs, I object to
enrollment in a biometric identification system, such as
facial recognition and digital fingerprinting, that
directly connects my body to identification and financial
transactions, the linking of my social security number to
biometric identification, personal-biometric information
sharing and to identification using radio frequency
identification (RFID) or similar technologies."
(b) Any applicant signing, or by other means indicating
agreement with, the "Biometric and Social Security Number Religious
Exemption" is exempt from supplying a social security number for
the issuance of a new, replacement or renewed, noncommercial driver
license, learner permit, Class D license or identification card.
(c) Any applicant signing, or by other means indicating
agreement with, the "Biometric and Social Security Number Religious
Exemption" is exempt from supplying biometric data, biometric
sample or biometric template and the division or other state agency is prohibited from collecting, retaining or disclosing the
applicant's social security number or biometric sample, biometric
template or biometric data that may be obtained from any other
entity.
(d) An individual may make an application for the "Biometric
and Social Security Number Religious Exemption", at any time, as a
replacement for a noncommercial driver license or identification
card or renewal for a noncommercial driver license or
identification card, up to six months in advance of expiration
date. An individual unable to make an application for the
exemption in person may make the application by mail, accompanied
by proof of identification, notarized request for exemption and
appropriate fees.
(e) The division, upon the effective date of this section,
shall cease all biometric data comparisons and the collection of
biometric data, biometric sample or biometric template of an
applicant that signs, or indicates by other means agreement with
the exemption, and shall perform as follows:
(1) Modify existing computer software used for collecting
facial images of an applicant for the exemption so that facial
images collected do not exceed an uncompressed photographs
resolution where the width of the head is forty-nine pixels or more
of resolution which corresponds to a maximum full image width of
eighty-five pixels or more and a maximum image height of one
hundred and six pixels or more; and
(2) Store facial images that comply with this subsection in
a separate database that is not accessible by any other
governmental or nongovernmental entity but accessible only by the
division.
(f) The division shall not subject facial images to biometric
comparisons and shall not require an applicant for the exemption to
remove prescriptive corrective eyeglasses or to provide a specific
facial expression when the image is collected.
(g) No more than one facial image of an applicant for the
exemption, to be printed on the identification card or
noncommercial driver license, may be maintained by the division at
any time unless previous attempts have failed to collect a full
frontal view of the individual's face that is a reasonable
representation of the individual. All previously collected images
shall be permanently and immediately deleted.
(h) The division shall establish locations so that no
applicant for the exemption must travel more than seventy-five
miles within the state to be examined for the issuance of a
noncommercial driver license or issuance of a new, renewed or
replacement noncommercial driver license or identification cards.
With respect to each such location, cameras and software used must be able to collect a facial image in compliance with this section.
All exemption locations must be identified by the division and
included in all lists that identify locations for examination or
issuance of noncommercial license or identification cards.
(I) Upon receipt of an application for the exemption, the
division shall within three months of that date, permanently delete
from all active databases, archival or back-up storage databases
that are in the possession of the division or of any third party
relating to the division's activities, any social security number
or biometric data, biometric sample or biometric template or facial
image not complying with this section that were previously
collected, obtained or retained from any applicant signing, or by
other means indicating agreement with, the exemption.
(j) The division may collect from an applicant for the
exemption an increased fee for the issuance of a noncommercial
driver license or identification card not to exceed fifty percent
of the cost of a similar identification document that does not
comply with the requirements of this section. The additional fee
shall not be collected for more than five years of the effective
date of this section and shall not exceed the actual increase
incurred by the division for the implementation of this section.
(k) This section does not prevent the following:
(1) The collection or retention of photographs or fingerprints for the purpose of enforcing laws relating to serious
traffic offense including, but not limited to, driving while
intoxicated, reckless driving, negligent homicide with the use of
a motor vehicle or other motor vehicle offense for which a physical
custody arrest is made and bond required;
(2) The use of finger imaging software and related equipment
only at specific locations designated by the division where
fingerprints are collected for the purpose of performing criminal
record checks required under federal regulations governing the
issuance of hazardous materials endorsements on driver licenses and
the taking and retention of fingerprints for that express purpose;
(3) The use, collection, storage or sharing of a social
security number relating to a commercial driver license;
(4) Requesting and receiving a motor vehicle and driver
license records or from having legal access to information in the
possession of the division, by law-enforcement agencies so long as
such access and requests for this information are specific to
individual records and individual persons; and
(5) Enforcement of laws relating to child support enforcement
so long as such enforcement does not require the collection,
retention or disclosure of a social security number of an applicant
for the exemption within the division.
(l) A person that has signed, or indicated by other means agreement with, the exemption is exempt from the issuance of a
noncommercial driver license or identification that uses the
technology known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFI), Radio
Frequency Technology (RFT), or similar technologies or devices,
that are capable of storing and transmitting personally
identifiable information or unique numbers, codes or algorithms
which directly correlate to personal information held in another
location, database or device. This subsection does not apply to
devices used for identifying persons relating to punishment for
criminal offenses where such identifications uses are allowed by
law or for such devices used for turnpike or toll road passes.
(m) For purposes of this section, "biometric data",
"biometric sample" and "biometric template" include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1) Facial feature pattern characteristics;
(2) Computerized facial image or hard copy of the same that
when scanned by electronic means may be used to create a
computerized facial image that exceeds an uncompressed photographic
resolution where the width of the head is forty-nine pixels or more
of resolution which corresponds to a maximum full image width of
eighty-five pixels or more of resolution and an image height of one
hundred six pixels or more of resolution;
(3) Voice data used for comparing live speech with a previously created model of a person's voice;
(4) Iris recognition data containing color or texture
patterns or codes;
(5) Retinal scans, reading through the pupil measure blood
vessels lining the retina;
(6) Behavior characteristics of a handwritten signature, such
as shape, speed, pressure, pen angle or sequence;
(7) Fingerprints, palm prints and other methods for measuring
or recording ridge pattern or fingertip characteristics;
(8) Keystroke dynamics measuring pressure applied to key
pads;
(9) Hand geometry measuring hand characteristics including
the shape and length of fingers in three dimensions; and
(10) Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA).
(n) The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this section
is to provide a religious
exemption to the collection of social security numbers and
information usable with biometric information when issuing drivers
licenses and rule-making authority.
§17B-2-6a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.