Bills in Congress

Bills introduced during the 111th Congress related to data protection and breaches are listed on this page. Bills introduced during the 111th Congress that relate to other aspects of privacy are listed on  PogoWasRight.org.

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Became Public Law No: 111-5 (pdf). Introduced by Obey. Sections 13401 – 13423 amend HIPAA and impose new data protection and breach notification standards. The bill also restricts the sale and use of patient data.
• A resolution expressing support for designation of January 28, 2009, as “National Data Privacy Day”. H. Res. 31. Introduced by Price. Passed. S.Res.25. Introduced by Dorgan. Passed.
• A resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need to pass meaningful legislation to protect commercial and government data from data breaches. H.Con.Res.193. Introduced by Burgess.
• Data Accountability and Trust Act. H.R.2221. Introduced by Rush.
  

  A bill to protect consumers by requiring reasonable security policies and procedures to protect computerized data containing personal information, and to provide for nationwide notice in the event of a security breach.

• Data Breach Notification Act. S.139. Introduced by Feinstein.
  

  A bill to require Federal agencies, and persons engaged in interstate commerce, in possession of data containing sensitive personally identifiable information, to disclose any breach of such information.

• Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need to pass meaningful legislation to protect commercial and Government data from data breaches. H.Con.Res.193 . Introduced by Burgess.
• Identity Theft Notification Act. H.R. 133. Introduced by Gallegly.
  

  To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide that individuals and appropriate authorities are notified by the Commissioner of Social Security of evidence of misuse of the Social Security account numbers of such individuals.

• Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2009. H.R. 220. Introduced by Paul.
  

  To amend title II of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect the integrity and confidentiality of Social Security account numbers issued under such title, to prohibit the establishment in the Federal Government of any uniform national identifying number, and to prohibit Federal agencies from imposing standards for identification of individuals on other agencies or persons.

• Improvement of the National Program of Cancer Registries Act. S. 792. Introduced by Sanders.
  

  A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the National Program of Cancer Registries by expanding data collection and allowing data sharing for public health objectives, while preserving the confidentiality of patients, and for other purposes.

• Informed P2P User Act. H.R. 1319. Introduced by Mack.
  

  To prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on a computer through the use of certain “peer-to-peer” file sharing software without first providing notice and obtaining consent from the owner or authorized user of the computer.

• Notify Americans Before Outsourcing Personal Information Act. H.R.427. Introduced by Poe.
  

  A bill to prohibit the transfer of personal information to any person or business outside the United States, without notice.

• Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2009. S. 1490. Introduced by Leahy.
  

  A bill to prevent and mitigate identity theft, to ensure privacy, to provide notice of security breaches, and to enhance criminal penalties, law enforcement assistance, and other protections against security breaches, fraudulent access, and misuse of personally identifiable information.

• Protecting the Privacy of Social Security Numbers Act. S.141. Introduced by Feinstein. H.R. 122. Introduced by Frelinghuysen.
  

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to limit the misuse of Social Security numbers, to establish criminal penalties for such misuse, and for other purposes.

• Safeguarding Social Security Numbers Act of 2009. S. 1618. Introduced by Schumer.
  

  A bill to require the Commissioner of Social Security to issue uniform standards for the method of truncation of Social Security account numbers in order to protect such numbers from being used in the perpetration of fraud or identity theft and to provide for a prohibition on the display to the general public on the Internet of Social Security account numbers by State and local governments, and for other purposes

• Social Security Identity Theft Prevention Act. H.R. 50. Introduced by Kirk.
  

  To protect seniors from identity theft and strengthen our national security by providing for the issuance of a secure Social Security card.

• Social Security Number Fraud and Identity Theft Prevention Act. H.R. 2472. Introduced by Coffman.
  

  To prevent the fraudulent use of social security account numbers by allowing the sharing of social security data among agencies of the United States for identity theft prevention and immigration enforcement purposes.

• Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2009. H.R. 3306. Introduced by Tanner.
  

  To amend the Social Security Act to enhance Social Security account number privacy protections, to prevent fraudulent misuse of the Social Security account number, and to otherwise enhance protection against identity theft, and for other purposes.

• Young Children Social Security Number Protection Act of 2009. H.R. 2706. Introduced by Kenny.
  

  To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for the reissuance of Social Security account numbers to young children in cases in which the confidentiality of the number has been compromised by reason of theft.