Colorado takes step to protect healthcare workers

A new bill passed by Colorado lawmakers would ban the doxxing of healthcare workers and other protected persons in an effort to shield them from threats and harassment. The bill now goes to Governor Jared Polis to be signed into law.

Doxxing refers to the search for and publishing of private or identifying information about a person  on the internet, typically with malicious intent.

Bill HB22-1041 states that personal information may be withheld from the internet “if the protected person believes dissemination of such information poses an imminent and serious threat to the protected person or the safety of the protected person's immediate family.”

The bill adds a protected person's full name and home address to the list of personal information that the protected person's written request for removal must include. However, it authorizes access to records maintained by a county recorder, county assessor, or county treasurer for certain individuals if such access is related to a real estate matter.

Along with healthcare workers, others protected under this bill include child representatives, code enforcement officers, mortgage servicers, and office of the respondent parents' counsel staff members and contractors.