(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to represent oneself, either directly or by implication, to be another person, without the authorization or permission of such other person, through the use of the Internet, electronic mail messages or any other electronic means, including wireless communication, and to solicit, request, or take any action to induce a resident of this state to provide identifying information or identification documents.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
class B misdemeanorup to 6 monthsup to $500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-18-5203

  • Electronic mail message: means a message sent to a unique destination, commonly expressed as a string of characters, consisting of a unique user name or mailbox, commonly referred to as the "local part" and a reference to an Internet domain, commonly referred to as the "domain part" whether or not displayed, to which an electronic message can be sent or delivered. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Identification documents: means any card, certificate or document that identifies, or purports to identify, the bearer of such document, whether or not intended for use as identification, and includes, but is not limited to, documents purporting to be driver licenses, nondriver identification cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, passports, immigration documents, social security cards, employee identification cards, cards issued by the government to provide benefits of any sort, health care benefit cards, or health benefit organization, insurance company or managed care organization cards for the purpose of identifying a person eligible for services. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Identifying information: means , with respect to an individual, any of the following:
    (A) Social security number. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Internet: means the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet protocol (IP), or its subsequent extensions, and that is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite, or its subsequent extensions, or other IP-compatible protocols, and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on communications and related infrastructure. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Person: means a natural person, consumer, individual, governmental agency, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, incorporated or unincorporated association, and any other legal or commercial entity however organized. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Web page: means a location that has a single uniform resource locator or other single location with respect to the internet. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
  • Wireless communication: includes text messages sent and received on smart devices. See Tennessee Code 47-18-5202
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person without the authorization or permission of the person who is the subject of the identifying information, with the intent to defraud, for such person’s own use or the use of a third person, or to sell or distribute the information to another, to:

(1) Fraudulently obtain, record or access identifying information that would assist in accessing financial resources, obtaining identification documents, or obtaining benefits of such other person;
(2) Obtain goods or services through the use of identifying information of such other person; or
(3) Obtain identification documents in such other person’s name.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person with the intent to defraud and without the authorization or permission of the person who is the owner or licensee of a web page or web site to:

(1) Knowingly duplicate or mimic all or any portion of the web site or web page;
(2) Direct or redirect an electronic mail message from the IP address of a person to any other IP address;
(3) Use any trademark, logo, name, or copyright of another person on a web page; or
(4) Create an apparent but false link to a web page of a person that is directed or redirected to a web page or IP address other than that of the person represented.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to attempt to commit any of the violations enumerated in this section.
(e) In addition to the penalties set forth in § 47-18-5205, a person who knowingly violates:

(1) Subsection (a), (b), or (c) commits a Class A misdemeanor; or
(2) Subsection (d) commits a Class B misdemeanor.
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