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THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HOUSE BILL 6558

1997 Regular Session of The General Assembly

House Bill 6558

Introduced January 30, 1997

Substitute version May 14, 1997

Passed by House May 30, 1997

AN ACT CONCERNING A CONSUMER'S RIGHT TO PRIVACY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (a) As used in this section, "retailer" means any person who sells goods used primarily for personal, family or household purposes to a person who is not in the business of reselling such goods, and "consumer" means an individual who resides in this state.

(b) No retailer and no person who issues credit cards or debit cards in this state may sell, lease or exchange any information concerning a consumer that identifies the consumer in any manner and is obtained by such retailer or person in the course of such retailer's or person's business, to any other person for marketing purposes, unless prior written notice has been provided to the consumer in accordance with subsection (c) of this section and the consumer does not object to such sale, lease or exchange of information.

(c) Any notice required to be provided to a consumer under subsection (b) of this section shall include: (1) A statement that information identifying the consumer may be sold or leased to or exchanged with other businesses for marketing purposes; (2) a statement that consumers have a right to object to such sale, lease or exchange of information; and (3) a toll-free number or preprinted postage paid form that the consumer may use to exercise the consumer's right to object to such sale, lease or exchange of information. Such notice may be posted in a conspicuous location at the point of sale or may be mailed to the consumer not less than once annually. Any such notice that is mailed may be included with billing or account statements or any other information mailed to consumers.

(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) any exchange of information between subsidiary corporations having the same parent corporation, and (2) any financial institution subject to the provisions of section 42-133gg of the general statutes.

Sec. 2. Section 52-570c of the general statutes is repealed

and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:

(a) No person shall use a machine that electronically transmits facsimiles through connection with a telephone network or a device that automatically transmits a recorded telephone message to transmit unsolicited advertising material or an unsolicited telephone message which offers to sell goods or services.

(b) No person shall use an interactive computer service to send any unsolicited advertisement directly to any person, by electronic mail or otherwise, without obtaining the prior consent of each person who is to receive such advertisement. This subsection does not apply to advertisements that appear as part of any interactive computer service or program, Internet site or similar on-line communication that is voluntarily accessed through an interactive computer service by any person. As used in this subsection, "interactive computer service" means any information service, system or access software provider that enables or provides computer access by multiple users to a computer server, including any service or system that provides access to the Internet and any such systems operated or services offered by libraries and educational institutions; and "advertisement" means any offer to sell goods or services.

(c) Any person aggrieved by a violation of the provisions of this section may bring a civil action in the Superior Court to enjoin further violations and to recover the actual damages sustained by reason of such violation, together with costs and a reasonable attorney's fee, or two hundred dollars, whichever is greater. No such action shall be brought but within two years from the date of the act complained of.

(d) The attorney general may bring an action in Superior Court against any person engaged in a pattern or practice of violating the provisions of this section and may recover a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars per violation. As used in this subsection, "pattern or practice" means two or more separate and distinct violations of this section. No action may be brought under this subsection more than two years after the date of the most recent violation.