HBA-DMH C.S.H.B. 1823 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1823 By: Howard Civil Practices 3/27/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a person may be awarded minimal statutory damages if a communication, including speech that is transmitted in whole or part with the aid of wire or cable, is illegally intercepted. Because of increasingly complex computer technologies and regular occurrences of identity theft, privacy rights are a legitimate concern. C.S.H.B. 1823 increases the amount of statutory and actual damages that may be awarded in a cause of action for interception of a private communication. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1823 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to increase the amount of damages a person is entitled to if the person establishes a cause of action for the interception of a communication from $1,000 to $10,000 in statutory damages for each occurrence and from $1,000 to $10,000 for all actual damages. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1823 differs from the original bill by adding the increase in all actual damages. The substitute modifies the amount of statutory damages from an amount equal to or greater than $5,000 and less than or equal to $10,000 for each occurrence to $10,000 for each occurrence.