A bill to improve the safety and security of Members of Congress, immediate family members of Members of Congress, and congressional staff.
This bill seeks to enhance safety and security for Members of Congress, their immediate family members, and congressional staff by shielding certain personal information from public exposure and limiting how it can be shared or sold. It creates a formal framework to designate “covered information” as private, requires government agencies to remove such information from public records or postings upon request, and bars data brokers and many other businesses from selling or publicly displaying this information after a written request. The bill also authorizes civil action for individuals whose information is improperly disclosed and provides specific rules to balance these protections with existing laws and reporting requirements. In short, the bill is designed to reduce the risk of harm stemming from doxxing or unwanted attention by restricting access to and dissemination of personal data about at-risk individuals, while preserving important government transparency and public-interest disclosures where already required by law.
Key Points
- 1Definition of at-risk individuals and covered information:
- 2- At-risk individuals include Members of Congress, their immediate family members, designated Senate/House employees, and former Members.
- 3- Covered information encompasses home addresses, phone numbers, personal emails, government IDs (SSN/driver’s license), bank account info, vehicle identifiers, information about children, school/daycare data, daily schedules or routes, and precise geolocation data not anonymized.
- 4- Certain election-related filings and other information required by federal or state law are excluded from the covered information.
- 5Protections from public disclosure and required removals:
- 6- Government agencies may be notified by at-risk individuals to mark their covered information as private and to remove it from publicly available content.
- 7- Agencies must remove covered information within 72 hours after receiving such a request, preventing public posting/display of the information.
- 8Restrictions on data brokers and other businesses:
- 9- Data brokers are prohibited from knowingly selling, licensing, trading, or purchasing covered information of an at-risk individual.
- 10- Other businesses generally may not publicly disclose covered information after a written request; if disclosed, they must remove it within 72 hours and refrain from transferring it to others (with limited exceptions).
- 11- Exceptions allow for certain disclosures: relevant news reporting, information voluntarily published by the at-risk individual, or transfers made at the at-risk individual's request or to fulfill a request.
- 12Delegation and streamlined compliance:
- 13- The bill allows at-risk individuals to authorize legislative officers to file notices or requests on their behalf.
- 14- A list-based approach lets the officers provide a consolidated list of individuals and related information to agencies or data brokers to ensure compliance.
- 15Legal remedies and construction:
- 16- At-risk individuals may sue for injunctive or declaratory relief if their covered information is disclosed or mishandled.
- 17- The bill contains specific construction rules to avoid impeding press reporting, public-interest information, or legally required disclosures, while broadly favoring protection of covered information.
- 18- If any part is found unconstitutional, the rest remains in effect (severability).