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Committee votes favorably on HB449 to criminalize nonconsensual acquisition or use of genetic data
Summary
HB449 would create crimes for taking genetic material without consent and for using genetic material without consent; sponsor said it mirrors a Florida law and includes exceptions for law enforcement, HIPAA, and public universities. The committee reported the bill favorably.
A Senate committee voted to report HB449 favorably after Representative Robbins described the bill as creating two degrees of "genetic theft": first degree for taking someone's genetic material without consent and second degree for using it without consent. Representative Robbins said the proposal responds to concerns about commercial DNA services and future uses of genetic data.
"So what that would be is we have a first degree and second degree. First degree is basically where you take someone's genetic material without their consent and second is when you use their genetic material without their consent," Robbins said. He said the bill would carve out exceptions for law enforcement, HIPAA-covered entities and public universities.
Committee members raised detailed questions about ownership of samples, what constitutes "expressed consent," and whether the statute targets physical material (hair, swabs) or genetic data extracted and stored by companies. Representative Robbins said "expressed consent" could be written or evidenced by actions and that, under his drafting, taking material alone would not be a crime unless the material were analyzed and the genetic data used without consent.
A senator noted that Florida has enacted similar legislation; the sponsor said he was aware of Florida's law. Committee members asked about realistic misuse scenarios, such as hacked commercial accounts and use of genetic information by insurers or marketers. The sponsor responded that concerns include both theft of valuable data and unauthorized use that could affect insurance, marketing or other future technologies.
At the close of the discussion, the committee clerk called the roll and the transcript records the clerk announcing "Aye" votes and a later mention of "72," after which the committee gave HB449 a favorable report.
The sponsor and committee members discussed several interpretive details that the sponsor said could be refined in drafting before the bill moves forward.
