Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to prohibit the commercial acquisition or distribution of an individual's social security number (or any derivative of it), as well as its use as a personal identification number, without the individual's written consent. Provides for: (1) civil money penalties and civil action in U.S. District Court by an aggrieved individual; and (2) coordination with criminal enforcement of identification document fraud.
Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit a consumer reporting agency from providing a report in connection with a credit or insurance transaction not initiated by the consumer without the consumer's written consent. Requires full consumer disclosure before such consent shall be effective.
Prohibits, with specified exceptions, a person doing business with a consumer from selling or transferring for marketing purposes any transaction or experience information (as defined by this Act) without the consumer's written consent.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1931 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1931
To protect the privacy of the individual with respect to the Social
Security number and other personal information, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 1, 2003
Mr. Kleczka (for himself, Mr. Frost, Mr. Stark, Mr. Kucinich, Mr.
McNulty, Mr. Faleomavaega, and Mr. Kingston) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in
addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect the privacy of the individual with respect to the Social
Security number and other personal information, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Personal Information Privacy Act of
2003''.
SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF CREDIT HEADER INFORMATION.
Section 603(d)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681a(d)(1)) is amended by inserting after subparagraph (C) the
following new sentence:
``The term also includes any other identifying information
of the consumer, except the name, address, and telephone number
of the consumer if listed in a residential telephone directory
available in the locality of the consumer.''.
SEC. 3. PROTECTING PRIVACY BY PROHIBITING USE OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY
NUMBER FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES WITHOUT CONSENT.
(a) In General.--Part A of title XI of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``prohibition of certain misuses of the social security account number
``Sec. 1150A. (a) Prohibition of Commercial Acquisition or
Distribution.--No person may buy, sell, offer for sale, take or give in
exchange, or pledge or give in pledge any information for the purpose,
in whole or in part, of conveying by means of such information any
individual's social security account number, or any derivative of such
number, without the written consent of such individual.
``(b) Prohibition of Use as Personal Identification Number.--No
person may utilize any individual's social security account number, or
any derivative of such number, for purposes of identification of such
individual without the written consent of such individual.
``(c) Prerequisites for Consent.--In order for consent to exist
under subsection (a) or (b), the person engaged in, or seeking to
engage in, an activity described in such subsection shall--
``(1) inform the individual of all the purposes for which
the number will be utilized and the persons to whom the number
will be known; and
``(2) obtain affirmatively expressed consent in writing.
``(d) Exceptions.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to
prohibit any use of social security account numbers permitted or
required under section 205(c)(2) of this Act, section 7(a)(2) of the
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a note; 88 Stat. 1909), or section
6109(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(e) Civil Action in United States District Court; Damages;
Attorneys Fees and Costs; Nonexclusive Nature of Remedy.--
``(1) In general.--Any individual aggrieved by any act of
any person in violation of this section may bring a civil
action in a United States district court to recover--
``(A) such preliminary and equitable relief as the
court determines to be appropriate; and
``(B) the greater of--
``(i) actual damages; and
``(ii) liquidated damages of $25,000 or, in
the case of a violation that was willful and
resulted in profit or monetary gain, $50,000.
``(2) Attorney's fees and costs.--In the case of a civil
action brought under paragraph (1) in which the aggrieved
individual has substantially prevailed, the court may assess
against the respondent a reasonable attorney's fee and other
litigation costs and expenses (including expert fees)
reasonably incurred.
``(3) Statute of limitations.--No action may be commenced
under this subsection more than 3 years after the date on which
the violation was or should reasonably have been discovered by
the aggrieved individual.
``(4) Nonexclusive remedy.--The remedy provided under this
subsection shall be in addition to any other lawful remedy
available to the individual.
``(f) Civil Money Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--Any person who the Commissioner of
Social Security determines has violated this section shall be
subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be
prescribed by law, to--
``(A) a civil money penalty of not more than
$25,000 for each such violation, and
``(B) a civil money penalty of not more than
$500,000, if violations have occurred with such
frequency as to constitute a general business practice.
``(2) Determination of violations.--Any violation committed
contemporaneously with respect to the social security account
numbers of 2 or more individuals by means of mail,
telecommunication, or otherwise shall be treated as a separate
violation with respect to each such individual.
``(3) Enforcement procedures.--The provisions of section
1128A (other than subsections (a), (b), (f), (h), (i), (j), and
(m), and the first sentence of subsection (c)) and the
provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section 205 shall
apply to civil money penalties under this subsection in the
same manner as such provisions apply to a penalty or proceeding
under section 1128A(a), except that, for purposes of this
paragraph, any reference in section 1128A to the Secretary shall be
deemed a reference to the Commissioner of Social Security.
``(4) Coordination with criminal enforcement.--The
Commissioner of Social Security shall take such actions as are
necessary and appropriate to assure proper coordination of the
enforcement of the provisions of this section with criminal
enforcement under section 1028 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to fraud and related activity in connection with
identification documents). The Commissioner shall enter into
cooperative arrangements with the Federal Trade Commission
under section 5 of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence
Act of 1998 for purposes of achieving such coordination.
``(g) Regulation by States.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prohibit any State authority from enacting or enforcing
laws consistent with this section for the protection of privacy.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) applies
with respect to violations occurring on and after the date which is 2
years after the date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Unfair or Deceptive Act or Practice.--Any person who refuses to
do business with an individual because the individual will not consent
to that person receiving the social security number of such individual
shall be considered to have committed an unfair or deceptive act or
practice in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 45). Action may be taken under such section 5 against such a
person.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO DISTRIBUTION OF
CONSUMER REPORTS IN CONNECTION WITH CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS
NOT INITIATED BY THE CONSUMER.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 604(c) of the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(c)) is amended by striking ``any credit
or insurance transaction that is not initiated by the consumer only
if--'' and all that follows through the end of such paragraph and
inserting ``any credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated
by the consumer only if the consumer provides express written
authorization, in accordance with paragraph (2), to the agency to
provide such report in connection with any such transaction.''
(b) Full Disclosure Required.--Paragraph (2) of section 604(c) of
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(c)) is amended to read
as follows:
``(2) Full disclosure required.--
``(A) In general.--No authorization referred to in
paragraph (1) with respect to any consumer shall be
effective unless the consumer receives a notice before
such authorization is provided which fully and fairly
discloses, in accordance with regulations which the
Federal Trade Commission and the Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System shall jointly prescribe,
what specifically is being authorized by the consumer
and the potential positive and negative effects the
provision of such authorization will have on the
consumer.
``(B) Form of notice.--The regulations prescribed
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall require that the
notice required under such subparagraph--
``(i) be prominently displayed on a
document which is separate from any other
document; or
``(ii) if the notice appears on a document
with other information, be placed in a clear
and conspicuous location on such document and
appear in type face which is more conspicuous
than the type face used for any other
information on such document.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (e) of section
604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended to
read as follows:
``(e) [Repealed]''.
SEC. 5. SALE OR TRANSFER OF TRANSACTION OR EXPERIENCE INFORMATION
PROHIBITED.
(a) In General.--The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 627. Transaction or experience information
``(a) In General.--No person doing business with a consumer may
sell, transfer, or otherwise provide to any other person, for the
purpose of marketing such information to any other person, any
transaction or experience information without the consumer's express
written consent.
``(b) Transaction or Experience Information Defined.--For purposes
of this section, the term `transaction or experience information' means
any information identifying the content or subject of 1 or more
transactions between the consumer and a person doing business with a
consumer, including any component part of any transaction, any brand
name involved, or any quantity or category of merchandise involved in
any part of the transaction.
``(c) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to
the following:
``(1) Communication of transaction or experience
information solely among persons related by common ownership or
affiliated by corporate control.
``(2) Information provided pursuant to the order of a court
having jurisdiction to issue such order or pursuant to a
subpoena issued in connection with proceedings before a Federal
grand jury.
``(3) Information provided in connection with the licensing
or registration by a government agency or department, or any
transfer of such license or registration, of any personal
property bought, sold, or transferred by the consumer.
``(4) Information required to be provided in connection
with any transaction in real estate.
``(5) Information required to be provided in connection
with perfecting a security interest in personal property.
``(6) Information relating to the amount of any transaction
or any credit extended in connection with a transaction with a
consumer.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 603(d)(2)(A) is
amended by striking ``(A)
any--'' and inserting ``(A) subject to section 627,
any--''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for the Fair Credit
Reporting Act is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``627. Transaction or experience information.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line