Safe Connections Act of 2022

117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 120 AN ACT To prevent and respond to the misuse of communications services that facilitates domestic violence and other crimes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 2 † S 120 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Connections Act 2 of 2022’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, terms used 5 in this Act that are defined in section 345(a) of the Com- 6 munications Act of 1934, as added by section 4 of this 7 Act, have the meanings given those terms in such section 8 345(a). 9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 10 Congress finds the following: 11 (1) Domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, 12 sexual assault, human trafficking, and related 13 crimes are life-threatening issues and have lasting 14 and harmful effects on individuals, families, and en- 15 tire communities. 16 (2) Survivors often lack meaningful support 17 and options when establishing independence from an 18 abuser, including barriers such as financial insecu- 19 rity and limited access to reliable communications 20 tools to maintain essential connections with family, 21 social safety networks, employers, and support serv- 22 ices. 23 (3) Perpetrators of violence and abuse described 24 in paragraph (1) increasingly use technological and 25 3 † S 120 ES communications tools to exercise control over, mon- 1 itor, and abuse their victims. 2 (4) Communications law can play a public in- 3 terest role in the promotion of safety, life, and prop- 4 erty with respect to the types of violence and abuse 5 described in paragraph (1). For example, inde- 6 pendent access to a wireless phone plan can assist 7 survivors in establishing security and autonomy. 8 (5) Safeguards within communications services 9 can serve a role in preventing abuse and narrowing 10 the digital divide experienced by survivors of abuse. 11 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS 12 WITHIN COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. 13 Part I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 14 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 345. PROTECTION OF SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIO- 17 LENCE, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND RELATED 18 CRIMES. 19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 ‘‘(1) ABUSER.—The term ‘abuser’ means an in- 21 dividual who has committed or allegedly committed 22 a covered act against— 23 ‘‘(A) an individual who seeks relief under 24 subsection (b); or 25 4 † S 120 ES ‘‘(B) an individual in the care of an indi- 1 vidual who seeks relief under subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(2) COVERED ACT.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered act’ 4 means conduct that constitutes— 5 ‘‘(i) a crime described in section 6 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women 7 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)), includ- 8 ing domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 9 ual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking; 10 ‘‘(ii) an act or practice described in 11 paragraph (11) or (12) of section 103 of 12 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 13 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102) (relating to severe 14 forms of trafficking in persons and sex 15 trafficking, respectively); or 16 ‘‘(iii) an act under State law, Tribal 17 law, or the Uniform Code of Military Jus- 18 tice that is similar to an offense described 19 in clause (i) or (ii). 20 ‘‘(B) CONVICTION NOT REQUIRED.—Noth- 21 ing in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to 22 require a criminal conviction or any other deter- 23 mination of a court in order for conduct to con- 24 stitute a covered act. 25 5 † S 120 ES ‘‘(3) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 1 provider’ means a provider of a private mobile serv- 2 ice or commercial mobile service, as those terms are 3 defined in section 332(d). 4 ‘‘(4) PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER.—The term 5 ‘primary account holder’ means an individual who is 6 a party to a mobile service contract with a covered 7 provider. 8 ‘‘(5) SHARED MOBILE SERVICE CONTRACT.— 9 The term ‘shared mobile service contract’— 10 ‘‘(A) means a mobile service contract for 11 an account that includes not less than 2 con- 12 sumers; and 13 ‘‘(B) does not include enterprise services 14 offered by a covered provider. 15 ‘‘(6) SURVIVOR.—The term ‘survivor’ means an 16 individual who is not less than 18 years old and— 17 ‘‘(A) against whom a covered act has been 18 committed or allegedly committed; or 19 ‘‘(B) who cares for another individual 20 against whom a covered act has been committed 21 or allegedly committed (provided that the indi- 22 vidual providing care did not commit or alleg- 23 edly commit the covered act). 24 6 † S 120 ES ‘‘(b) SEPARATION OF LINES FROM SHARED MOBILE 1 SERVICE CONTRACT.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 business 3 days after receiving a completed line separation re- 4 quest from a survivor pursuant to subsection (c), a 5 covered provider shall, as applicable, with respect to 6 a shared mobile service contract under which the 7 survivor and the abuser each use a line— 8 ‘‘(A) separate the line of the survivor, and 9 the line of any individual in the care of the sur- 10 vivor, from the shared mobile service contract; 11 or 12 ‘‘(B) separate the line of the abuser from 13 the shared mobile service contract. 14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON PENALTIES, FEES, AND 15 OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided in 16 paragraphs (5) through (8), a covered provider may 17 not make separation of a line from a shared mobile 18 service contract under paragraph (1) contingent on 19 any requirement other than the requirements under 20 subsection (c), including— 21 ‘‘(A) payment of a fee, penalty, or other 22 charge; 23 7 † S 120 ES ‘‘(B) maintaining contractual or billing re- 1 sponsibility of a separated line with the pro- 2 vider; 3 ‘‘(C) approval of separation by the primary 4 account holder, if the primary account holder is 5 not the survivor; 6 ‘‘(D) a prohibition or limitation, including 7 one described in subparagraph (A), on number 8 portability, provided such portability is tech- 9 nically feasible, or a request to change phone 10 numbers; 11 ‘‘(E) a prohibition or limitation on the sep- 12 aration of lines as a result of arrears accrued 13 by the account; 14 ‘‘(F) an increase in the rate charged for 15 the mobile service plan of the primary account 16 holder with respect to service on any remaining 17 line or lines; or 18 ‘‘(G) any other limitation or requirement 19 not listed under subsection (c). 20 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 21 paragraph (2) shall be construed to require a cov- 22 ered provider to provide a rate plan for the primary 23 account holder that is not otherwise commercially 24 available. 25 8 † S 120 ES ‘‘(4) REMOTE OPTION.—A covered provider 1 shall offer a survivor the ability to submit a line sep- 2 aration request under subsection (c) through secure 3 remote means that are easily navigable, provided 4 that remote options are commercially available and 5 technically feasible. 6 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRANSFERRED 7 TELEPHONE NUMBERS.—Notwithstanding para- 8 graph (2), beginning on the date on which a covered 9 provider transfers billing responsibilities for and 10 rights to a telephone number or numbers to a sur- 11 vivor under paragraph (1)(A) in response to a line 12 separation request submitted by the survivor under 13 subsection (c), unless ordered otherwise by a court, 14 the survivor shall assume financial responsibility, in- 15 cluding for monthly service costs, for the transferred 16 telephone number or numbers. 17 ‘‘(6) RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRANSFERRED 18 TELEPHONE NUMBERS FROM A SURVIVOR’S AC- 19 COUNT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), upon the 20 transfer of a telephone number under paragraph 21 (1)(B) in response to a line separation request sub- 22 mitted by a survivor under subsection (c), the sur- 23 vivor shall have no further financial responsibilities 24 to the transferring covered provider for the services 25 9 † S 120 ES provided by the transferring covered provider for the 1 telephone number or for any mobile device associ- 2 ated with the telephone number. 3 ‘‘(7) RESPONSIBILITY FOR MOBILE DEVICE.— 4 Notwithstanding paragraph (2), beginning on the 5 date on which a covered provider transfers billing re- 6 sponsibilities for and rights to a telephone number 7 or numbers to a survivor under paragraph (1)(A) in 8 response to a line separation request submitted by 9 the survivor under subsection (c), unless otherwise 10 ordered by a court, the survivor shall not assume fi- 11 nancial responsibility for any mobile device associ- 12 ated with the separated line, unless the survivor pur- 13 chased the mobile device, or affirmatively elects to 14 maintain possession of the mobile device. 15 ‘‘(8) NOTICE TO SURVIVOR.—If a covered pro- 16 vider separates a line from a shared mobile service 17 contract under paragraph (1) and the primary ac- 18 count holder is not the survivor, the covered provider 19 shall notify the survivor of the date on which the 20 covered provider intends to give any formal notice to 21 the primary account holder. 22 ‘‘(c) LINE SEPARATION REQUEST.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A survivor shall submit to 24 the covered provider a line separation request that— 25 10 † S 120 ES ‘‘(A) verifies that an individual who uses a 1 line under the shared mobile service contract 2 has committed or allegedly committed a covered 3 act against the survivor or an individual in the 4 survivor’s care, by providing— 5 ‘‘(i) a copy of a signed affidavit from 6 a licensed medical or mental health care 7 provider, licensed military medical or men- 8 tal health care provider, licensed social 9 worker, victim services provider, or licensed 10 military victim services provider, or an em- 11 ployee of a court, acting within the scope 12 of that person’s employment; or 13 ‘‘(ii) a copy of a police report, state- 14 ments provided by police, including mili- 15 tary police, to magistrates or judges, 16 charging documents, protective or restrain- 17 ing orders, military protective orders, or 18 any other official record that documents 19 the covered act; 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of relief sought under 21 subsection (b)(1)(A), with respect to— 22 ‘‘(i) a line used by the survivor that 23 the survivor seeks to have separated, states 24 11 † S 120 ES that the survivor is the user of that spe- 1 cific line; and 2 ‘‘(ii) a line used by an individual in 3 the care of the survivor that the survivor 4 seeks to have separated, includes an affi- 5 davit setting forth that the individual— 6 ‘‘(I) is in the care of the survivor; 7 and 8 ‘‘(II) is the user of that specific 9 line; and 10 ‘‘(C) requests relief under subparagraph 11 (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) and identifies 12 each line that should be separated. 13 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS FROM COVERED PRO- 14 VIDERS.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered provider 16 shall notify a survivor seeking relief under sub- 17 section (b) in clear and accessible language that 18 the covered provider may contact the survivor, 19 or designated representative of the survivor, to 20 confirm the line separation, or if the covered 21 provider is unable to complete the line separa- 22 tion for any reason, pursuant to subparagraphs 23 (B) and (C). 24 12 † S 120 ES ‘‘(B) REMOTE MEANS.—A covered provider 1 shall notify a survivor under subparagraph (A) 2 through remote means, provided that remote 3 means are commercially available and tech- 4 nically feasible. 5 ‘‘(C) ELECTION OF MANNER OF CON- 6 TACT.—When completing a line separation re- 7 quest submitted by a survivor through remote 8 means under paragraph (1), a covered provider 9 shall allow the survivor to elect in the manner 10 in which the covered provider may— 11 ‘‘(i) contact the survivor, or des- 12 ignated representative of the survivor, in 13 response to the request, if necessary; or 14 ‘‘(ii) notify the survivor, or designated 15 representative of the survivor, of the inabil- 16 ity of the covered provider to complete the 17 line separation. 18 ‘‘(3) ENHANCED PROTECTIONS UNDER STATE 19 LAW.—This subsection shall not affect any law or 20 regulation of a State providing communications pro- 21 tections for survivors (or any similar category of in- 22 dividuals) that has less stringent requirements for 23 providing evidence of a covered act (or any similar 24 category of conduct) than this subsection. 25 13 † S 120 ES ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIAL AND SECURE TREATMENT OF 1 PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 3 222(c)(2), a covered provider and any officer, direc- 4 tor, employee, vendor, or agent thereof shall treat 5 any information submitted by a survivor under sub- 6 section (c) as confidential and securely dispose of 7 the information not later than 90 days after receiv- 8 ing the information. 9 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 10 paragraph (1) shall be construed to prohibit a cov- 11 ered provider from maintaining, for longer than the 12 period specified in that paragraph, a record that 13 verifies that a survivor fulfilled the conditions of a 14 line separation request under subsection (c). 15 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO CON- 16 SUMERS.—A covered provider shall make information 17 about the options and process described in subsections (b) 18 and (c) readily available to consumers— 19 ‘‘(1) on the website and the mobile application 20 of the provider; 21 ‘‘(2) in physical stores; and 22 ‘‘(3) in other forms of public-facing consumer 23 communication. 24 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL INFEASIBILITY.— 25 14 † S 120 ES ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirement to effec- 1 tuate a line separation request pursuant to sub- 2 section (b)(1) shall not apply to a covered provider 3 if the covered provider cannot operationally or tech- 4 nically effectuate the request. 5 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—If a covered provider can- 6 not operationally or technically effectuate a line sep- 7 aration request as described in paragraph (1), the 8 covered provider shall— 9 ‘‘(A) notify the survivor who submitted the 10 request of that infeasibility— 11 ‘‘(i) at the time of the request; or 12 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a survivor who has 13 submitted the request using remote means, 14 not later than 2 business days after receiv- 15 ing the request; and 16 ‘‘(B) provide the survivor with information 17 about other alternatives to submitting a line 18 separation request, including starting a new 19 line of service. 20 ‘‘(g) LIABILITY PROTECTION.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered provider and any 22 officer, director, employee, vendor, or agent thereof 23 shall not be subject to liability for any claims deriv- 24 ing from an action taken or omission made with re- 25 15 † S 120 ES spect to compliance with this section and the rules 1 adopted to implement this s [Text truncated for display. 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