Hawaii may keep track of all Web sites visited

[EmptyTimCup]

Hawaii may keep track of all Web sites visited

Hawaii's legislature is weighing an unprecedented proposal to curb the privacy of Aloha State residents: requiring Internet providers to keep track of every Web site their customers visit.


Its House of Representatives has scheduled a hearing this morning on a new bill (PDF) requiring the creation of virtual dossiers on state residents. The measure, H.B. 2288, says "Internet destination history information" and "subscriber's information" such as name and address must be saved for two years.

H.B. 2288, which was introduced Friday, says the dossiers must include a list of Internet Protocol addresses and domain names visited. Democratic Rep. John Mizuno of Oahu is the lead sponsor; Mizuno also introduced H.B. 2287, a computer crime bill, at the same time last week.

Last summer, U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) managed to persuade a divided committee in the U.S. House of Representatives to approve his data retention proposal, which doesn't go nearly as far as Hawaii's. (Smith, currently Hollywood's favorite Republican, has become better known as the author of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA.)

Because the wording is so broad and applies to any company that "provides access to the Internet," Mizuno's legislation could sweep in far more than AT&T, Verizon, and Hawaii's local Internet providers. It could also impose sweeping new requirements on coffee shops, bookstores, and hotels frequented by the over 6 million tourists who visit the islands each year.

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

This just sounds like Hawaii trying to be "Big Brother." Why does the state have to keep such records? Perhaps, to "encourage" other states adopt similar procedures?

 

[EmptyTimCup]

This just sounds like Hawaii trying to be "Big Brother." Why does the state have to keep such records? Perhaps, to "encourage" other states adopt similar procedures?

oh Terrorism, Cyberbullying, copyright infringement .......

 

[b23hqb]

Maybe, just maybe, if the big o slips up, we will find out what he actually did in college, what he actually wrote about, if he did at all.....what kind of q-tips he used on those ears......

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

oh Terrorism, Cyberbullying, copyright infringement .......

Yeah but, why Hawaii? Is it something the state gov't plans to do or is it a Federally mandated thing? I would think that if anybody was going to be "keeping track", for lack of a better term; it would be the folks in D.C..