House panel backs bill limiting Revenue Department’s document scanning
From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

MDN.ORG Mo. Digital News Missouri Digital News MDN.ORG: Mo. Digital News MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
Lobbyist Money Help  

House panel backs bill limiting Revenue Department’s document scanning

Date: April 29, 2013
By: Taylor Beck
State Capitol Bureau
Links: SB 252

Intro: 
In a House panel Monday the Boston bombing tragedy made its way into talks about the Missouri Department of Revenue's practice of scanning and retaining personal documents for a state database.
RunTime:  0:44
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: The panel OK'd a bill which would prohibit the Revenue Department from scanning personal documents when issuing drivers licenses and require the department to destroy its current database.

Richard McIntosh lobbies for MorphoTrust USA, the third party printing licenses in Missouri as well as Massachusetts.

He said authorities used the state's license database to ID the Boston bombing suspects.

Republican Representative Todd Richardson said the bill is built mainly to protect the private information of those going to get drivers licenses.

Actuality:  BOSTON2.WAV
Run Time:  00:10
Description: "at some point you have to draw a line and say an intrusion into privacy isn't worth whatever marginal benefit you may get to security."

Richardson said McIntosh's claims assume the suspects would not have been caught regardless.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.

Intro: 
Amidst the ongoing investigation of the state Revenue Department's policy of scanning and retaining personal documents for a database, the Boston bombings are now being thrown into the discussion.
RunTime:  0:45
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: A House panel backed a measure barring the Revenue Department from scanning personal documents when issuing drivers licenses and requiring the department to destroy its current database.

Richard McIntosh lobbies for MorphoTrust USA, the third party printing licenses in Missouri as well as Massachusetts.

He said authorities used the state's license database to ID the Boston bombing suspects.

Actuality:  BOSTON.WAV
Run Time:  00:9
Description: "if we had an incident similar to Boston in Missouri and you wanted to try and find the faces in the DOR database, you would be prohibited from doing so."

But Republican Representative Todd Richardson said the bill boils down to privacy protection.

Actuality:  BOSTON.WAV
Run Time:  00:5
Description: "I'm sure there are instances where we wouldn't be able to prosecute some crimes if we didn't have cameras on every street corner"

Richardson also said one could argue the suspects could have been caught regardless.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.