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Washington statute

RCW 9A.58.020 — Possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document—Exceptions

Current through 2026 Regular Session

Part of Chapter 9A.58: Identification Documents, Revised Code of Washington.

Criminal charges under this statute

Full text of RCW 9A.58.020

Statutory text current through the 2026 Regular Session. This publication reproduces the official text of the Revised Code of Washington from the Code Reviser's published files; it is not the official statutes of the State of Washington.

RCW 9A.58.020Primary source, current through the 2026 Regular Session
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person is guilty of a class C felony if the person intentionally possesses, or reads or captures remotely using radio waves, information contained on another person's identification document, including the unique personal identifier number encoded on the identification document, without that person's express knowledge or consent. (2) This section does not apply to: (a) A person or entity that reads an identification document to facilitate border crossing; (b) A person or entity that reads a person's identification document in the course of an act of good faith security research, experimentation, or scientific inquiry including, but not limited to, activities useful in identifying and analyzing security flaws and vulnerabilities; or (c) A person or entity that unintentionally reads an identification document remotely in the course of operating its own radio frequency identification system, provided that the inadvertently received information: (i) Is not disclosed to any other party; (ii) Is not used for any purpose; and (iii) Is not stored or is promptly destroyed.

Official sources

Legal terms used in this section

Questions this section answers

Is possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document a felony or a misdemeanor in Washington?

Possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document is a Class C Felony in Washington under RCW 9A.58.020.

Which Washington statute covers possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document?

Possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document is governed by RCW 9A.58.020 (Possessing, or reading or capturing, information contained on another person's identification document—Exceptions).

This reference is informational and is not legal advice.