Public Servant Protection Act of 2020
This bill addresses the privacy of government officials related to their personal information.
First, the bill makes it unlawful to publicly display on the internet the home address or home phone number of a government official or an immediate family member of a government official with the intent to cause bodily harm or other injury to such official or family member. Violators are subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term, or both.
The bill also allows government officials to make written demands to individuals and interactive computer service providers related to the removal of their personal information.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4965 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
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. Boozman,
Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Servant Protection Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
(a) Criminal Provision.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 88 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Government official.--The term `government official'
means--
``(A) any officer or employee described in section
1114; and
``(B) any officer or employee of a State, a
political subdivision of a State, or a Tribal
government.
``(2) Immediate family member.--The term `immediate family
member' has the meaning given the term in section 115.
``(3) Personal information.--The term `personal
information' means--
``(A) a home address; or
``(B) a home phone number.
``(4) State.--The term `State' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any
possession of the United States.
``(5) Tribal government.--The term `Tribal government' has
the meaning given the term `Indian tribal government' in
section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
``(b) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person to publicly
display on the internet the personal information of a government
official or an immediate family member of a government official with
the intent to cause bodily harm or other injury to an individual.
``(c) Penalty.--A person who violates subsection (b)--
``(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not
more than 1 year, or both; and
``(2) if bodily injury or death results from the violation,
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of
years or life, or both.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials.''.
(b) Civil Provision.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Government official; personal information.--The
terms ``government official'' and ``personal
information'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 1802 of title 18, United States Code, as added
by subsection (a).
(B) Immediate family member.--The term ``immediate
family member'' has the meaning given the term in
section 115 of title 18, United States Code.
(C) Interactive computer service.--The term
``interactive computer service'' has the meaning given
the term in section 230 of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 230).
(2) Written demand to persons.--
(A) In general.--A government official may
directly, or through an agent designated by the
government official, make a written demand to a person
to refrain from publicly displaying on the internet the
personal information of the government official or an
immediate family member of the government official.
(B) Effect of written demand.--If a government
official makes a written demand to a person under
subparagraph (A), the person--
(i) shall, not later than 48 hours after
the receipt of the written demand, remove any
personal information of the government official
or an immediate family member of the government
official displayed on the internet by the
person; and
(ii) during the 4-year period following the
date of the receipt of the written demand, may
not publicly display on the internet the
personal information of the government official
or an immediate family member of the government
official.
(3) Written demand to interactive computer service
providers.--
(A) In general.--A government official may
directly, or through an agent designated by the
government official, make a written demand to the
provider of an interactive computer service to remove
the personal information of the government official or
an immediate family member of the government official
that is publicly displayed on the interactive computer
service.
(B) Effect of written demand.--If a government
official makes a written demand to the provider of an
interactive computer service under subparagraph (A),
the provider shall, not later than 48 hours after the
receipt of the written demand, remove from the
interactive computer service any personal information
of the government official or an immediate family
member of the government official that is publicly
displayed on the interactive computer service.
(4) Cause of action.--
(A) In general.--A government official who is
aggrieved by a violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B)
may bring a civil action against the person or the
provider of an interactive computer service,
respectively, that violated that paragraph in an
appropriate district court of the United States.
(B) Relief.--In an action under subparagraph (A),
the court may award--
(i) injunctive relief;
(ii) if injury or damage results from the
violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B), the
greater of--
(I) actual damages; or
(II) $1,000; and
(iii) reasonable costs and attorney's fees.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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