D.__The University of Maine System, the Maine Maritime Academy and the Maine Technical College System;

E.__A county, municipality, school district or any regional or other political or administrative subdivision; and

F.__An advisory organization established, authorized or organized by law or resolve or by executive order issued by the Governor.

§542.__Notice of information practices

Each public entity that has a publicly accessible site on the Internet associated with it shall develop a policy regarding its practices relating to personal information and shall post notice of those practices on its publicly accessible site on the Internet.__The policy must include:

1.__Information collected.__A description of the personal information collected on the publicly accessible site on the Internet;

2.__Use and disclosure of information.__A summary of how the personal information is used by the public entity and the circumstances under which it may be disclosed to others;

3.__Choice.__The extent to which the user has a choice of whether to provide personal information via the publicly accessible site on the Internet and the consequences of refusing to give that information;

4.__Procedures for access and correction. The procedures, if any, by which the user may request access to that user's personal information and request correction of that information; and

5.__Security.__The steps taken to protect personal information from misuse or unauthorized access.

PART C

Sec. C-1. Commission established. The Blue Ribbon Commission to Review Governmental Information Policy, referred to in this Part as the "commission," is established.

Sec. C-2. Commission membership. The commission consists of 11 voting members appointed as follows:

1. Two Senators, one from the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary and one from the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government, appointed by the President of the Senate;

2. Four House of Represenatives members, one from the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary and one from the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

3. One representative of the news media, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

4. One representative of the Maine Bar Association, appointed by the President of the Senate;

5. One representative of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

6. Two representatives of the executive branch with expertise and experience in collection and protection of personal information.

Sec. C-3. Chairs. The first named Senate member is the Senate chair. The first named House of Representatives member is the House chair.

Sec. C-4. Appointments; convening meetings. All appointments must be made no later than 30 days following the effective date of this Part. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative Council upon making their appointments. When the appointment of all members is complete, the chairs shall call and convene the first meeting of the commission.

Sec. C-5. Duties. The commission shall study issues relating to governmental and information policy, including the following:

1. Concerns about privacy of personal information collected by governmental entities, including collection on publicly accessible sites on the Internet;

2. Development of a comprehensive information practices law governing collection and management of personal information by state and local governmental entities; and

3. Other related issues.

Sec. C-6. Staff assistance. Upon approval of the Legislative Council, the Office of Policy and Legal Analysis shall provide necessary staffing services to the commission.

Sec. C-7. Compensation. Legislators who are members of the commission are entitled to receive legislative per diem, as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 2, and reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses for attendance at meetings of the commission.

Sec. C-8. Report. The commission shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any recommended legislation, to the Second Regular Session of the 120th Legislature by November 1, 2001. If the commission requires an extension of time to make its report, it may apply to the Legislative Council, which may grant the extension.

SUMMARY

This bill relates to personal privacy and governmental information practices, based on the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission to Establish a Comprehensive Internet Policy.

The bill requires state and local governments to include notice of their information practices on their publicly accessible sites on the Internet. The notice would inform the public about what information is being collected via the publicly accessible site on the Internet, how it will be used, how to access and correct information and what security measures are taken by the governments to prevent improper use of that information.

The bill also requires state agencies to include in their review under the State Government Evaluation Act an analysis of their information practices and their use of information technology.

Finally, the bill creates a commission to examine public concern about collection of personal information by governmental entities and to create a comprehensive information practices law governing collection and management of personal information by governmental entities.