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New state law requires computer techs to report child porn
By Ray Long and Azam Ahmed
Chicago Tribune
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SPRINGFIELD -- Computer technicians must report to law enforcement any customers whose computers contain child pornography under a new law that drew fire Friday from opponents who warned innocent people will end up under investigation.

The new law applies to those who work at big or small stores as well as repairmen who work on computers in people’s homes. It’s an expansion of a current state law that required photo processors to report potentially criminal images.

“It’s not acceptable if you’re a computer technician to say, well, it’s none of my business and then move on to the next customer,” said state Sen. A.J. Wilhemi, D-Joliet, the sponsor. “We have to take a collective approach to combating this insidious industry.”

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose signature put the law on the books immediately, approved it as part of a package of legislation aimed at preventing the exploitation of children.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois questioned the wisdom of a law that would require untrained computer technicians to make judgments on what constitutes child pornography, spokesman Ed Yohnka said.

“To what extent do we want to build this kind of society where we are asking people to watch us?” Yohnka asked.

Yohnka worried the law could result in countless people falsely getting swept up into investigations over “something that was not child porn at all.”

Failure to report the child pornography is a business offense punishable by a $1,000 fine, but that raised questions with Yohnka too.

“It’s impossible, I suppose, to know precisely how every individual would react,” Yohnka said. “But the inclination would be to report for fear of later being fined.”

But for many technicians, the law may change little in the way they operate.

“I thought it was already law,” said Robert Stephens, founder and chief inspector of the Geek Squad at Best Buy. “This is one situation that I think most agents are aware of.”

The Geek Squad training manual requires employees to immediately notify a manager if there is the suspicion of child pornography on a computer. The same is true for technicians at Circuit City. Technicians do not routinely look at customers’ data, several experts said, but would view data in situations such as copying files from an old computer or checking different programs to determine the cause of a system problem.

“The chances of coming across something like that are probably pretty good, but it depends on how nosy you ÃareÄ when you’re looking at a customer’s data,” said Marc Lysne, co-owner of CompuTechs in Chicago. “I just want to fix the customer’s machine, but if I ran across something like that, I would report it.”

Computer technicians must report to local police or e-mail the attorney general at reportchildporn@atg.state.il.us, which will soon be activated.

Another provision in the law targets adults who contact children on the Internet with the intent of luring them into a meeting. It makes it illegal for an adult to send a minor a bus or plane ticket or provide other transportation with the intent of illicit activity.

Blagojevich also signed legislation arising from a Missouri case of cyber-bullying that ended in a teen girl’s suicide. The law tightens penalties and other language in a law signed this year that bars adults from harassing children on the Internet, according to sponsoring state Rep. Sidney Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove. The first cyber-bullying law takes effect Jan. 1, and Friday’s new cyber-bullying law goes into effect June 1.

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Reader comments on this story - 4 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Geez! wrote on Oct 5, 2008 5:59 PM:

" Is there a provision that protects those who report it from potential lawsuits from those on whom it was reported?

Unless there is a blanket whistle-blower immunity provision, there will not be the level of support the lawmakers want. "

somethingdifferent wrote on Oct 4, 2008 11:45 AM:

" as a former tech who has dealt with this situation multiple times before, I can say it never happened because we were "surfing" the hard drive. it always happened because we were doing a job that required us to verify the integrity of the data transferred and came across highly questionable data in the process of our work. also, if we were to "surf" the hard drive and find this data, we were told that it could not be used as evidence in a prosecution as it was a violation of the customers privacy, and proper procedure mandated that we follow all precedents of proper evidence gathering and notified the local police as soon as we suspected wrongdoing. "

The Original JD wrote on Oct 4, 2008 10:15 AM:

" Firstly, let me say that child porn and predation is a horrible things. Next, let me say that computer professionals working on private computers do not have the right to surf the hard drive. It is a violation of trust and privacy. They are employed to perform a certain task, not to cruise your hard drive looking at pictures, listening to your music, or watching your videos. Doing such is like hiring a mechanic to fix our car, and getting a call saying the car is impounded because the mechanic used it to pick up hookers. "

Bama Yankee wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:39 AM:

" Having seen one wrongful prosecution from the law preceding this one, I am looking forward to seeing many more.
How much are these kinds of laws going to cost taxpayers and individuals before they are "adjusted" for error?
Seems every new piece of legislation in Illinois makes me that much more glad that I relocated. "
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