S. 2851: Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act

This bill, titled the Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act, aims to enhance the safety and privacy of certain individuals involved in government, mainly focusing on Members of Congress and their immediate families, along with designated congressional staff. Here are the key components of the legislation:

Definitions

The bill outlines several definitions necessary for its enforcement, including:

• At-risk individual: This refers to Members of Congress and immediate family members, as well as designated employees, and can also include staff members or former members.
• Covered information: This comprises sensitive personal details such as home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, banking details, vehicle identifiers, and information regarding minor children, including their school attendance.
• Data broker: Defined as companies that collect and sell personal information about individuals who are not their clients.

Protection of Personal Information

The bill outlines measures to protect the covered information of at-risk individuals:

• At-risk individuals may notify government agencies about their status, prompting these agencies to keep their personal information private.
• Government agencies are prohibited from publicly posting any covered information and must remove any such information within 72 hours of receiving a request.

Restrictions on Data Brokers and Businesses

The bill places restrictions on data brokers and other companies:

• Data brokers are not allowed to sell or share covered information of at-risk individuals without penalty.
• Businesses must not publicly disclose the personal information of at-risk individuals if requested to do so, with specific exceptions for public interest information or consented disclosures.
• Entities must remove any publicly available covered information within 72 hours of a request.

Legal Recourse

If the provisions regarding personal information are violated, affected individuals have the right to seek legal remedies through the courts for any harm caused.

Regulatory Framework and Oversight

The bill allows designated legislative officers to act on behalf of at-risk individuals to facilitate compliance with the law. This includes notifying government agencies, data brokers, or businesses on behalf of the affected individuals.

Exceptions and Clarifications

There are specific exceptions outlined in the bill, including:

• Lawful press activities related to reporting on unlawful actions.
• Disclosure related to public interest or required by federal law.
• Transparency necessary for government functions.

Relevant Companies

• FB (Meta Platforms, Inc.): The legislation may require such companies to enhance privacy measures and limit data sharing practices that could expose personal information of at-risk individuals.
• GOOGL (Alphabet Inc.): Similar to Meta, Google may face restrictions in its advertising and data-sharing practices concerning the covered individuals and their protected information.
• AMZN (Amazon.com, Inc.): The bill could impact how Amazon handles personal data of customers and its employees who are classified as at-risk individuals.