Compendium of State Privacy and Security Legislation, United States, 2002-2015 (ICPSR 37826)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Hide

Study Design View help for Study Design

BJS has published editions of the Compendium of State Privacy and Security Legislation since 1974. The last print edition was published in 2002. In 2014 and 2015, the FRD of the Library of Congress updated the approximately 3,000 pre-existing (legacy) records from the 2002 Compendium database for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. FRD updated the Compendium database with more than 18,000 new entries and categorized each statute or regulation according to the 75 keyword categories provided by BJS.

The Compendium database includes more than 20,000 entries for 53 jurisdictions: all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The database does not include the territories of American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The FRD included new relevant state laws and administrative regulations for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. BJS determined that populating the updated database with new legislation from American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico would require the design of a separate research methodology, as well as the translation of some documents into English.

During 2014 and 2015, FRD analysts compared each entry in the original 2002 database with current statutes and regulations, providing updated text for the citation or noting if it had been moved or repealed. FRD analysts added the most recent legislation from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Working with librarians from the Library of Congress Law Library and representatives from LexisNexis, the FRD developed a robust search string to identify new legislation related to criminal history record information (CHRI) within each state's statutes and administrative codes. FRD analysts applied this search string to the LexisNexis database of state statutes, codes, and regulations (the LexisNexis Library Express platform) to come up with a list of potentially relevant legislation. They then analyzed each piece of legislation for its relevancy to the Compendium, entered relevant laws into the database, and coded the legislation according to keyword categories provided to them by the BJS. The FRD implemented quality-control measures to ensure consistency across the database and eliminate duplication. They did not alter the format, spelling, or grammar of the citation text from the style presented in LexisNexis. However, users should be aware of the following issues regarding the Compendium database. First, FRD analysts did not remove any expired or repealed laws from the database. Second, 20 new keywords were added to categorize any new state statutes or regulations added to the database as part of the update. As a result, keyword application varies across the original entries from 2002 and the 2014/2015 updates.

In the codebook, Appendix I provides a listing of the keyword categories and Appendix II explains how the keyword categories were applied. Appendix III provides a table containing information on each state's most recent update to its statutes and administrative codes at the time of the FRD update, and Appendix IV provides a state-by-state table itemizing the number of citations existing in the legacy database and those that were added in this update. The Compendium database includes fields to distinguish between the historical citations from 2002 and the updated citation information from 2014 and 2015 to document changes in privacy and security regulations. Twenty-eight of the states' statutes are current through 2015. Twenty of the states' statutes are current through 2014. Two states, North Dakota and Texas, have statutes that are current through 2013. Forty-one of the states have administrative regulations that are current through 2015. Seven of the states have administrative regulations that are current through 2014. Two states, Arizona and Georgia, have administrative regulations that are current through 2013.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Fifty-three jurisdictions in the United States (50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

1. State - This field identifies the state that is being referenced.

2. State_Abbr - This field identifies the abbreviation of the state that is being referenced.

3. Citation_2014_2015 - This field contains the updated citation reference number for the statute or regulation. The updates adhered to the citation format used by LexisNexis. In some cases, the more recent citations have minor variations in format. Because the state codes in LexisNexis are constantly being updated, users of the database should note that the legislation listed may be from 2014 or 2015, depending on the state and the date of the research into that state's code.

4. Text_Citation_2014_2015 - This field contains the text of the cited legislation as it appeared at the time the entry was most recently updated. Entries that existed in the 2002 database are usually current though 2014, and new entries are current though 2015. Appendix III contains a table displaying state-by-state information on the most recent updates used by FRD analysts for both statutes and administrative codes.

In a few cases, the citation text was so lengthy that it exceeded the character limit for the database. In these cases, the FRD analysts placed the section(s) of the statute or code containing the most relevant text in the Text_Citation_2014_2015 field and an explanatory note in the Notes field ("The entire text of [citation] exceeds database character limit").

5. Citation_2002 - This field contains the 2002 citation reference number for the statute or regulation. FRD analysts did not add to, change, or delete this historical data. This field was left empty in entries that were newly added during the 2014/2015 update.

6. Text_Citation_2002 - This field contains the text of the cited legislation as it appeared in 2002. This field was not changed in the 2014/2015 update. For statutes or codes that were newly added, the Text_Citation_2002 field is empty.

7. Keyword_Category_General - Entries within the database were organized into general categories based on the subject matter of the cited text. BJS provided the FRD with a list of keyword categories to be used for the 2014/2015 update. Appendix I provides a listing of these categories and Appendix II explains how FRD applied each keyword. Fifty-five detailed keyword categories were included for the legacy entries from 2002. BJS added 20 new detailed categories for the 2014/2015 update. Entries from 2002 were not updated to include these new categories.

8. Keyword_Category_Detailed - This field provides the detailed keyword category for each entry based on the subject matter of the cited text.

9. Statute_Most_Recent_Update - This field contains information on the date of the source material's most recent update when FRD analysts entered it into the database. This field is filled if the entry is a statute and empty if the entry is an administrative regulation. Usually, the date is stated by identifying the statute as "current through" a particular legislative session. FRD analysts obtained this updated information from LexisNexis and maintained the phrasing used in the source material. A table displaying state-by-state information on the most recent updates for both statutes and administrative codes is located in Appendix III.

10. Admin_Most_Recent_Update - This field contains information on the date of the source material's most recent update when FRD analysts entered it into the database. This field is filled if the entry is an administrative regulation and empty if the entry is a statute. Often, the date is stated by identifying the regulation as "current though" a particular revision or update of the administrative code. FRD analysts obtained this updated information from LexisNexis and maintained the phrasing used in the source material. A table displaying state-by-state information on the most recent updates for both statutes and administrative codes is located in Appendix III.

11. Legislative_History - This field provides details on the history of the citation from the LexisNexis database of state statutes, codes, and regulations. If LexisNexis did not provide a history for a particular citation, the field was left empty.

12. Notes - This field provides additional information about a citation from the FRD analysts.

Hide

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2021-06-21

Hide