Florida bill would classify ‘DNA theft’ as a felony property crime
(The Center Square) – Florida in 2020 became the nation’s first state to enact a “DNA privacy” law prohibiting life, disability and long-term care insurance companies from using genetic tests for coverage purposes.
Companion 2021 Senate-House bills would also establish a national first for Florida within the rapidly expanding realm of genetic privacy policy legislation and regulation: Felony criminal penalties for “stealing” or using someone’s DNA data, like any other personal property, without their consent.
Sen. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, filed Senate Bill 1140 and Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City, introduced House Bill 833 Monday. Both would prohibit collection or retention of DNA samples, and the analysis and disclosure of results, without authorization, with criminal penalties for specified violations.
“I’m proud to sponsor this legislation in the Senate that will help take DNA privacy protections a step further in our state,” Rodrigues said. “Collection and testing of someone else’s genetic data without consent is a cutting-edge problem this bill will solve in the state of Florida.”
“There will be serious criminal penalties in Florida for these actions,” Tomkow vowed. “It will not be tolerated.”
Both bills would make submitting another person’s DNA sample for analysis without their permission, or knowingly conducting an analysis of DNA without the person’s permission, a third degree felony.
Under SB 1140/HB 833, disclosing another person’s DNA analysis to a third party would also be a third degree felony while collecting or retaining another person’s DNA sample with the intent to perform a surreptitious DNA analysis would be a first degree misdemeanor.
By Florida law, which explicitly defines genetic information as personal property, third degree felony sentences carry up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and first degree misdemeanors carry up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Neither bill had been assigned committees by Tuesday afternoon. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Daniel Perez, R-Miami, told the New Service of Florida his panel will take up HB 833 quickly. The panel’s Tuesday meeting was postponed without a date set for its next gathering.
SB 1140/SB 833 quickly garnered a key endorsement from House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Clearwater, who sponsored the 2020 “DNA privacy” law.
“This is the next vital step to protect our residents’ privacy,” Sprowls said. “Rep. Tomkow’s bill puts bad actors on notice: If you try to steal or share DNA in Florida, you will face the consequences.”
Sprowl’s HB 1189 extended federal prohibitions against health insurance providers from accessing DNA test results, such as those offered by 23andMe or AncestryDNA, to life, disability and long-term care insurance companies.
Under HB 1189, insurers cannot use genetic information to price policies and offerings. The bill blocks companies from requiring or soliciting genetic information from applicants and forbids DNA-testing companies from providing genetic information to insurers without customer’s permission.
HB 1189 passed unanimously in the House and 35-3 in the Senate. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law in June.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 16 states require informed consent for a third party either to perform or require a genetic test or to obtain genetic information and 24 states require informed consent to disclose genetic information.
The NCSL documents that 18 states have established civil and criminal penalties for violating genetic privacy laws but the proposed SB 1140/HB 833 would be the first to impose penalties for violating genetic privacy laws as a property crime.
As with 2020’s HB 1189, the 2021 measures will accrue opposition from insurers, who say they are being targeted unfairly and maintain information gleaned from genetic testing could lower insurance premiums across-the-board.
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