Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-3. Violations
A business that does not take the reasonable steps when disposing of a customer‘s personal information set out in § 6-52-2 is in violation of this chapter. For the purposes of this chapter, each record unreasonably disposed of constitutes an individual violation of this chapter.
(1) A customer who incurs actual damages due to a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action in superior court.
(2) Whenever the attorney general has reason to believe that a violation of this chapter has occurred and that proceedings would be in the public interest, the attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state against the business in violation. The business that violates this chapter may be liable in a suit by the attorney general for actual damages of the aggrieved customer and a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
History of Section.
P.L. 2009, ch. 247, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 285, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 528, § 39.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-3
- Business: means a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, limited liability company, or other group, however organized and whether or not organized to operate at a profit, including a financial institution organized, chartered, or holding a license or authorization certificate under the laws of this state or any other state, or the parent, affiliate, or subsidiary of a financial institution. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
- Customer: means an individual who provides personal information to a business for the purpose of purchasing or leasing a product or obtaining a service from the business or whose personal information has been provided to another business from that business. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Personal information: means the following information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with a particular individual: his or her signature; social security number; physical characteristics or description; passport number; driver's license or state identification card number; insurance policy number; bank account number; credit card number; debit card number; any other financial information or confidential health care information, including all information relating to a patient's health care history; diagnosis condition; treatment; or evaluation obtained from a health care provider who has treated the patient which explicitly or by implication identifies a particular patient. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
- Record: means any material, regardless of the physical form, on which personal information is recorded or preserved by any means, including written or spoken words, graphically depicted, printed, or electromagnetically transmitted. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1