Plain English summary not yet available
The full original text is available below. Check back soon as we process this bill.
II
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. 4965
To regulate the posting of personal information of government officials on
the internet, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
DECEMBER 3, 2020
Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOOZ-
MAN, Mrs. LOEFFLER, Mr. PERDUE, and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) intro-
duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To regulate the posting of personal information of
government officials on the internet, 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 ‘‘Public Servant Protec-
4
tion Act of 2020’’.
5
SEC. 2. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF GOVERN-
6
MENT OFFICIALS.
7
(a) CRIMINAL PROVISION.—
8
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2
•S 4965 IS
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 88 of title 18,
1
United States Code, is amended by adding at the
2
end the following:
3
‘‘§ 1802. Privacy of personal information of govern-
4
ment officials
5
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
6
‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term ‘gov-
7
ernment official’ means—
8
‘‘(A) any officer or employee described in
9
section 1114; and
10
‘‘(B) any officer or employee of a State, a
11
political subdivision of a State, or a Tribal gov-
12
ernment.
13
‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term
14
‘immediate family member’ has the meaning given
15
the term in section 115.
16
‘‘(3) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘per-
17
sonal information’ means—
18
‘‘(A) a home address; or
19
‘‘(B) a home phone number.
20
‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any
21
State of the United States, the District of Columbia,
22
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-
23
lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3
•S 4965 IS
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession
1
of the United States.
2
‘‘(5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Tribal
3
government’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian
4
tribal government’ in section 102 of the Robert T.
5
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
6
Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
7
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per-
8
son to publicly display on the internet the personal infor-
9
mation of a government official or an immediate family
10
member of a government official with the intent to cause
11
bodily harm or other injury to an individual.
12
‘‘(c) PENALTY.—A person who violates subsection
13
(b)—
14
‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned
15
for not more than 1 year, or both; and
16
‘‘(2) if bodily injury or death results from the
17
violation, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned
18
for any term of years or life, or both.’’.
19
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
20
tions for chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code,
21
is amended by adding at the end the following:
22
‘‘1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials.’’.
(b) CIVIL PROVISION.—
23
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4
•S 4965 IS
(A) GOVERNMENT
OFFICIAL; PERSONAL
1
INFORMATION.—The terms ‘‘government offi-
2
cial’’ and ‘‘personal information’’ have the
3
meanings given those terms in section 1802 of
4
title 18, United States Code, as added by sub-
5
section (a).
6
(B) IMMEDIATE
FAMILY
MEMBER.—The
7
term ‘‘immediate family member’’ has the
8
meaning given the term in section 115 of title
9
18, United States Code.
10
(C) INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICE.—
11
The term ‘‘interactive computer service’’ has
12
the meaning given the term in section 230 of
13
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
14
230).
15
(2) WRITTEN DEMAND TO PERSONS.—
16
(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official
17
may directly, or through an agent designated by
18
the government official, make a written demand
19
to a person to refrain from publicly displaying
20
on the internet the personal information of the
21
government official or an immediate family
22
member of the government official.
23
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5
•S 4965 IS
(B) EFFECT OF WRITTEN DEMAND.—If a
1
government official makes a written demand to
2
a person under subparagraph (A), the person—
3
(i) shall, not later than 48 hours after
4
the receipt of the written demand, remove
5
any personal information of the govern-
6
ment official or an immediate family mem-
7
ber of the government official displayed on
8
the internet by the person; and
9
(ii) during the 4-year period following
10
the date of the receipt of the written de-
11
mand, may not publicly display on the
12
internet the personal information of the
13
government official or an immediate family
14
member of the government official.
15
(3) WRITTEN DEMAND TO INTERACTIVE COM-
16
PUTER SERVICE PROVIDERS.—
17
(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official
18
may directly, or through an agent designated by
19
the government official, make a written demand
20
to the provider of an interactive computer serv-
21
ice to remove the personal information of the
22
government official or an immediate family
23
member of the government official that is pub-
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6
•S 4965 IS
licly displayed on the interactive computer serv-
1
ice.
2
(B) EFFECT OF WRITTEN DEMAND.—If a
3
government official makes a written demand to
4
the provider of an interactive computer service
5
under subparagraph (A), the provider shall, not
6
later than 48 hours after the receipt of the
7
written demand, remove from the interactive
8
computer service any personal information of
9
the government official or an immediate family
10
member of the government official that is pub-
11
licly displayed on the interactive computer serv-
12
ice.
13
(4) CAUSE OF ACTION.—
14
(A) IN GENERAL.—A government official
15
who is aggrieved by a violation of paragraph
16
(2)(B) or (3)(B) may bring a civil action
17
against the person or the provider of an inter-
18
active computer service, respectively, that vio-
19
lated that paragraph in an appropriate district
20
court of the United States.
21
(B) RELIEF.—In an action under subpara-
22
graph (A), the court may award—
23
(i) injunctive relief;
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7
•S 4965 IS
(ii) if injury or damage results from
1
the violation of paragraph (2)(B) or
2
(3)(B), the greater of—
3
(I) actual damages; or
4
(II) $1,000; and
5
(iii) reasonable costs and attorney’s
6
fees.
7
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
03:07 Dec 12, 2020
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\S4965.IS
S4965
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS