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RI House Bill 8060

Legislation

State: Rhode Island
Signed: June 23, 2026

Effective: June 23, 2026
Chapter: TBD

Summary

House Bill 8060 expands the state’s identity fraud law to criminalize impersonation of individuals and entities and the use of digital forgeries, including AI‑generated likenesses, in furtherance of fraud.

Affects

Amends Sections 11-49.1-2 and 11-49.1-3 of the Rhode Island General Laws.

Changes
  1. Defines “digital forgery” as creating or distributing a forged digital likeness presented as genuine to facilitate fraud, with knowledge or reason to know it is forged.
  2. Defines “forged digital likeness” as a non-consensual, computer-generated visual or audio representation that closely resembles a real person or entity and is likely to deceive.
  3. Defines “entity” to include corporations, partnerships, trusts, associations, and governmental bodies.
  4. Defines “elderly adult” as a person 60 years of age or older.
  5. Prohibits knowingly impersonating a person or entity, living or dead, with intent to defraud or cause harm.
  6. Prohibits knowingly engaging in digital forgery.
  7. Extends identity fraud liability to include impersonation of entities, not just individuals.
  8. Covers the creation and distribution of forged digital likenesses, including visual and audio content.
  9. Targets conduct that presents forged digital likenesses as genuine to facilitate fraud.
  10. Establishes exceptions for protected activities, law enforcement, technology providers, and other lawful conduct.
Analysis

House Bill 8060 primarily affects Notaries indirectly by expanding the scope of identity fraud to include entity impersonation, enhanced “means of identification,” and digital forgery (including AI‑generated likenesses), all of which heighten the risk environment in which Notaries operate. By expressly covering identifiers tied to entities — such as logos, trademarks, and other identifying data — and criminalizing the knowing use of forged digital likenesses to facilitate fraud, the law broadens what constitutes fraudulent identification and impersonation.  For Notaries, this reinforces the importance of careful identity verification, especially in transactions involving business representatives or remotely presented credentials, where fabricated digital media could be used. While the bill does not impose new affirmative duties on Notaries, it effectively raises the standard of diligence expected in screening identification and recognizing suspicious activity, because failures to detect fraudulent identity presentations could now be more closely associated with conduct that is explicitly criminalized under the expanded statute.

Read House Bill 8060.

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