Bill to Order Redaction of Online Signatures on State Agency Websites  Clears Committee

TRENTON – A bill requiring state agencies to redact a person’s handwritten signature prior to publishing documents displaying the person’s handwritten signature on their website, pursuant to any publication requirements of the “Administrative Procedure Act,” was passed today by the State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee.

Under the bill, S-3264, sponsored by Senator Nellie Pou, a state agency must archive any document that displays a person’s handwritten signature published on the State agency’s website prior to the effective date of the bill. The legislation is an effort to better secure an individual’s sensitive, private or confidential information while also allowing for other selective information to be disclosed.

“A handwritten signature represents a unique identifier subject to redaction, as each signature is specific to a single person. This bill seeks to safeguard this unique information through redaction on state websites, the same as if it were a person’s Social Security number,” said Senator Pou (D-Passaic/Bergen).

A State agency may republish the archived document but would first need to redact that person’s handwritten signature. Any document archived pursuant to the provisions of the bill is to be made available to the public through the open public records act.

The bill was passed out of committee by a vote of 5-0.