Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 224 To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 4, 2021 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Digital Pri- 4 vacy Technologies Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) PERSONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘personal 8 data’’ means information that identifies, is linked to, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S224.IS S224 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 224 IS or is reasonably linkable to, an individual or a con- 1 sumer device, including derived data. 2 (2) PRIVACY ENHANCING TECHNOLOGY.—The 3 term ‘‘privacy enhancing technology’’— 4 (A) means any software solution, technical 5 processes, or other technological means of en- 6 hancing the privacy and confidentiality of an in- 7 dividual’s personal data in data or sets of data; 8 and 9 (B) includes anonymization and 10 pseudonymization techniques, filtering tools, 11 anti-tracking technology, differential privacy 12 tools, synthetic data, and secure multi-party 13 computation. 14 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SUPPORT OF RE- 15 SEARCH ON PRIVACY ENHANCING TECH- 16 NOLOGY. 17 The Director of the National Science Foundation, in 18 consultation with other relevant Federal agencies (as de- 19 termined by the Director), shall support merit-reviewed 20 and competitively awarded research on privacy enhancing 21 technologies, which may include— 22 (1) fundamental research on technologies for 23 de-identification, pseudonymization, anonymization, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S224.IS S224 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 224 IS or obfuscation of personal data in data sets while 1 maintaining fairness, accuracy, and efficiency; 2 (2) fundamental research on algorithms and 3 other similar mathematical tools used to protect in- 4 dividual privacy when collecting, storing, sharing, or 5 aggregating data; 6 (3) fundamental research on technologies that 7 promote data minimization principles in data collec- 8 tion, sharing, and analytics; and 9 (4) research awards on privacy enhancing tech- 10 nologies coordinated with other relevant Federal 11 agencies and programs. 12 SEC. 4. INTEGRATION INTO THE COMPUTER AND NETWORK 13 SECURITY PROGRAM. 14 Subparagraph (D) of section 4(a)(1) of the Cyber Se- 15 curity Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 16 7403(a)(1)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘(D) privacy enhancing technologies and 18 confidentiality;’’. 19 SEC. 5. COORDINATION WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 20 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER 21 STAKEHOLDERS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 23 Science and Technology Policy, acting through the Net- 24 working and Information Technology Research and Devel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S224.IS S224 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 224 IS opment Program, shall coordinate with the Director of the 1 National Science Foundation, the Director of the National 2 Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Federal 3 Trade Commission to accelerate the development and use 4 of privacy enhancing technologies. 5 (b) OUTREACH.—The Director of the National Insti- 6 tute of Standards and Technology shall conduct outreach 7 to— 8 (1) receive input from private, public, and aca- 9 demic stakeholders, including the National Institutes 10 of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and 11 Prevention, for the purpose of facilitating public 12 health research, on the development of privacy en- 13 hancing technologies; and 14 (2) develop ongoing public and private sector 15 engagement to create and disseminate voluntary, 16 consensus-based resources to increase the integra- 17 tion of privacy enhancing technologies in data collec- 18 tion, sharing, and analytics by the public and private 19 sectors. 20 SEC. 6. REPORT ON RESEARCH AND STANDARDS DEVELOP- 21 MENT. 22 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 23 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech- 24 nology Policy, acting through the Networking and Infor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S224.IS S224 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 224 IS mation Technology Research and Development Program, 1 shall, in coordination with the Director of the National 2 Science Foundation and the Director of the National In- 3 stitute of Standards and Technology, submit to the Com- 4 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 5 Senate, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, 6 and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations 7 of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and 8 Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Sub- 9 committee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 10 Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 11 House of Representatives, a report containing— 12 (1) the progress of research on privacy enhanc- 13 ing technologies; 14 (2) the progress of the development of vol- 15 untary resources described under section 5(b)(2); 16 and 17 (3) any policy recommendations of the Direc- 18 tors that could facilitate and improve communication 19 and coordination between the private sector, the Na- 20 tional Science Foundation, and relevant Federal 21 agencies through the implementation of privacy en- 22 hancing technologies. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:55 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S224.IS S224 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS