H.R. 10894: Disaster Data Protection Act

This bill would limit the federal government’s ability to use private information collected during disaster response efforts for immigration enforcement.

What it does

• It bars the use of federal funds for the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to obtain personally identifiable information that a non-governmental entity collected in response to a natural disaster.
• In practical terms, this means ICE could not use federal money to request or gather certain disaster-related personal data from charities, relief groups, hospitals, schools, landlords, or other private organizations involved in disaster response.
• An exception is included: a non-governmental entity may provide that information to ICE if ICE gets a judicial warrant first.

What counts as covered information

• The bill defines “personally identifiable information” broadly.
• It includes information that can identify or trace a person, such as:
  • name
  • home address
  • Social Security number
  • alien registration number
  • date and place of birth
  • parent’s maiden name
• It also includes certain private records held by non-governmental entities, such as education, financial, medical, criminal, or employment records, if they include identifying details like a name, fingerprint, voice print, or photograph.

What counts as a natural disaster

• The bill applies to information collected in response to disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, storms, earthquakes, wildfires, droughts, landslides, snowstorms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and similar catastrophic events.

Bottom line

• The bill is intended to prevent ICE from using disaster-relief channels to obtain private personal information unless a judge authorizes access through a warrant.
• It does not appear to change disaster relief itself; it focuses on how personal data gathered during disaster response can be accessed by ICE.

Relevant Companies

None found