STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2320

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2738

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Transportation and Energy, to which was referred S.B. No. 2738 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FOUND ELECTRONIC DEVICES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require county police departments and the Department of Transportation to sanitize unclaimed electronic devices, in accordance with recognized standards and guidelines, before providing the unclaimed property to finders or disposing of the property by public auction or other means.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Department of Transportation, Office of Enterprise Technology Services, and Honolulu Police Department.

Your Committees find that protecting individuals' sensitive personal information is important for maintaining public safety. The many personal electronic devices that individuals use contain copious amounts of a device owner's personal information. When these devices are lost, the personal information contained therein is potentially accessible by others, thereby putting the owner at risk. Under existing law, some local and state agencies are required to return unclaimed property to the finder of that property after forty-five days. However, existing laws do not require the applicable local or state agency to take steps to protect any personal information contained within found electronic devices before returning them to a finder or disposing of the devices. Therefore, your Committees find that state law needs to be updated to keep pace with technology and reflect the need to protect personal information on unclaimed electronic devices.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Transportation and Energy that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2738 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Transportation and Energy,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair