Sponsors (11)
The bill strengthens law enforcement's ability to preserve and obtain provider-held records to combat illicit drug distribution and aid prosecutions, at the cost of substantial new intrusions on users' privacy, risks of overbroad or erroneous reporting, delayed notice to affected users, and increased compliance costs for providers.
Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors gain faster access to provider-held account records and a 90-day preservation window, improving investigators' ability to disrupt fentanyl, methamphetamine, counterfeit drug networks and illegal prescription distribution and to secure evidence for prosecutions.
Providers and their employees receive good-faith immunity when they comply with preservation and disclosure duties, reducing legal risk and incentivizing cooperation with investigations.
The Department of Justice must report annually to Congress on provider reports, actionable leads, and convictions, increasing oversight and transparency about how this reporting regime is used.
Large numbers of users may have communications metadata and identifying information routinely collected and handed to DOJ, substantially reducing online privacy for many Americans.
The bill permits disclosure of the contents of user communications to DOJ (amending §2702), risking erosion of longstanding content-privacy protections for users.
Automated or overbroad reporting (including algorithmic errors) and broad preservation/disclosure duties could trigger investigations that harm innocent users and produce wrongful legal consequences.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires electronic communications and remote computing providers to report and preserve records about accounts/content allegedly used to facilitate distribution of Schedule I/II drugs, fentanyl-related substances, or listed chemical precursors to the Attorney General, with procedures, exemptions, and provider immunity.
Official title: To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require electronic communication service providers and remote computing services to report to the Attorney General certain controlled substances violations.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks · Last progress July 17, 2025
Requires electronic communication service and remote computing service providers to report to the Attorney General when they detect accounts, content, or transactions that appear to facilitate distribution of Schedule I or II controlled substances, fentanyl-related substances, or listed chemical precursors. The law also creates rules for preserving and disclosing records to DOJ, authorizes regulations and guidance, includes limited exemptions and procedures, and provides civil and criminal immunity for providers who comply in good faith.