Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens accountability and deterrence for improper access and disclosure of federal records by raising damages and standardizing per-violation penalties, but does so at the cost of higher agency litigation and compliance burdens, potential limits on transparency, and increased financial strain on some employees and offenders.
People whose federal privacy rights are violated (under the Privacy Act) can recover substantially larger statutory damages — raising certain awards from $5,000 to $30,000 — increasing compensation for privacy harms and access to relief.
Taxpayers and beneficiaries (IRS filers, SSA/HHS beneficiaries) gain a clear per-violation civil penalty ($5,000) for unauthorized disclosures, creating standardized accountability and a direct financial deterrent against improper employee or contractor disclosures.
Federal law enforcement and government systems receive stronger financial deterrents against unlawful access: fines for certain unauthorized access can be raised (up to $750,000), which may reduce malicious intrusions into agency systems.
Federal agencies will face higher litigation, settlement, and compliance costs to respond to larger statutory damages and penalties, which could increase taxpayer expenses or divert agency resources from services.
To limit liability, agencies may restrict access to records or add administrative burdens, reducing transparency and making it harder for the public to obtain government records.
A fixed $5,000-per-violation civil penalty can be modest relative to harms from large-scale breaches and, if not indexed to inflation, risks becoming inadequate over time — limiting compensation for victims and weakening long-term deterrence.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Increases civil and criminal fines for unauthorized access or disclosure of federal data and updates penalty amounts across several statutes.
Introduced May 20, 2025 by Mark R. Warner · Last progress May 20, 2025
Raises many of the civil and criminal penalty amounts for unauthorized access to or disclosure of federal government data across several federal statutes and fixes a minor formatting issue in one statute. The bill increases damage caps under the Privacy Act, raises maximum fines for individuals who obtain information from federal departments or agencies under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and standardizes or sets $5,000 fines for unauthorized disclosures of Social Security- and tax-related information. The changes primarily increase monetary penalties and adjust statutory wording; they do not create new crimes beyond existing provisions, do not appropriate new funding, and include no effective-date language in the provided text.