14 DAY TRIAL // At the begging of this month we were reporting that Texas adopted a new law which required all IT repair technicians to get a PI (private investigator) license if they wanted to keep doing their job, or face punitive measures (a $4,000 fine or 12 months of incarceration time). The law has of course caused a lot of stir and confusion in Texas, which determined the officials to speak out and provide a few explanations.
Joe Driver, State Representative for Texas, explains: "Review, analyze, and investigate' are the three key words, in my opinion, that drive the need for people to have some kind of license. Because if they're doing some of that, then they don't need to be - it doesn't need to be just anybody able to do that - they need to have somebody that has a security license. But if someone's just retrieving information and providing information for someone who is going to analyze, to use one of the words, then that's just a regular computer repair person."
That sort of clear cut distinction is only possible in theory, not in real life. No matter what a repair technician has to do, be it a simple troubleshooting issue or improving the performance of a machine, that person will inevitably have to "review, investigate and analyze".
Capt. RenEarl Bowie from the Texas Private Security Bureau in an interview for NPD provided an illustration of how to go about not breaking the law: "A basic example would be an individual like a computer repairman who is providing computer repair or support services for a customer; normally that is not a regulated activity. But when an individual is performing work involving the review of computer data for the purpose of investigating criminal or civil matters, then they could fall under the 1701.104, which is considered an investigation company."
When asked to provide another example in regards to what constitutes a normal computer repair, Bowie said that the issue is open to interpretation and he cannot provide a clear-cut example.
Mat Miller, Executive Director with the Texas State Chapter, who is suing the Texas State Private Security Bureau, comments: "We have sued the members of the board in their official capacity. And we are asking the Judge to declare that the law violates our clients' constitutional rights to practice their occupation free from unreasonable governmental interference."
According to Miller, the law itself is flawed because it is very much open to interpretation. The worst thing about it is the fact that it has been interpreted very aggressively by the private security board.