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Senate concurs with House on age‑verification bill allowing license scans, raises statutory damages to $5,000
Summary
The Oregon Senate voted to concur with House amendments to Senate Bill 1005A, allowing businesses to scan driver licenses to verify age for restricted purchases and increasing the minimum statutory damages for unlawful data storage or sharing from $1,000 to $5,000.
The Oregon Senate on the floor concurred with House amendments to Senate Bill 1005A on a concurrence vote, approving a measure that allows businesses to swipe or scan an individual's driver license to confirm age for age‑restricted products and raising the minimum statutory damages for unlawful storage or sharing of scanned license data from $1,000 to $5,000.
Senator Taylor, sponsor of the concurrence motion, told colleagues the bill "allows businesses to swipe an individual's license for the purpose of confirming their age" and stressed that "No business can store the data they get from scanning your license when you try to buy an age restricted product." She described the amendment's purpose as enabling compliance with age restrictions while protecting data and urged senators to concur with the House amendment.
Senator Robinson said he supported the underlying age‑verification concept but opposed the increased statutory damages in the amended bill, telling the Senate the $5,000 minimum "worries me especially since it could be multiplied by the number of cases" and that it could produce very large liabilities in some circumstances.
Senator Meade spoke in support of the measure, saying the bill would help enforce restrictions on flavored tobacco and other products and ensure merchants verify IDs and the real person accessing a sale.
The Senate roll call recorded 26 ayes and the bill was declared repassed on the concurrence vote. Senator Bonham filed a brief explanation of his vote, noting during committee debate that objections raised were concerns addressed by existing Oregon Revised Statutes governing data use and privacy.
The bill, as adopted, permits license scanning for age verification, leaves in place existing prohibitions on using or storing scanned information for unauthorized purposes, and raises the statutory minimum damages available to individuals whose information is stored, shared, or used illegally.
