Rep. Shawnna Bolick’s bill, HB2502, which prohibits posting another person’s personal identifying information online for the purpose of that person being harassed, known as “doxing,” was signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey.
Passed by the House and Senate with bipartisan support, the law is intended to help to protect private citizens from having their personal information, such as a phone number or home address, distributed online for the purpose of harassing or injuring that person.
“After hearing numerous stories of women who were ‘doxed’ by an abusive ex, and living in fear for their safety, I knew that something needed to be done in Arizona to protect the privacy of its citizens,” said Bolick. “HB 2502 is a strong step to ensuring the safety and privacy of all Arizonans and will ensure that private citizens have recourse if their personal information is posted online and they face harassment as a result.”
HB2502 Provisions:
1. Prohibits a person from using an electronic communication device to electronically distribute, publish, email, hyperlink or make available for downloading another person’s personal identifying information, including a digital image of the person, if:
a) the person committing the offense intends to terrify, intimidate, threaten or harass the person or an immediate family member of the person;
b) the person committing the offense acts without the other person’s consent;
c) the person committing the offense acts for the purpose of imminently causing the other person unwanted physical contact, injury or harassment by a third party; and
d) the use does in fact incite or produce that unwanted physical contact, injury or harassment.
2. Exempts an interactive computer service, information service and telecommunications service
from the prohibition against using an electronic communication device to terrify, intimidate, threaten or harass, for content that is provided by another person.
3. Defines electronic communication device as a telephone, mobile telephone, computer, internet website, internet telephone, hybrid cellular, internet or wireless device, personal digital assistant, video recorder, fax machine or pager.
4. Defines harassment as a knowing and willful course of conduct that is directed at a specific person, that a reasonable person would consider as seriously alarming, seriously disruptive, seriously tormenting or seriously terrorizing the person and that serves no legitimate purpose.
5. Defines personal identifying information as information that would allow the identified person to be located, contacted or harassed, including, but not limited to, the person’s home address, work address, phone number and email address.