Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens privacy protections for Members, designated congressional employees, and their families by enabling fast removals, restricting data-brokering, and creating an enforcement route, but it also raises compliance costs, legal uncertainty, and potential chilling effects on journalism and public records use.
Federal Members, designated congressional employees, former Members, and their immediate family/household members can require agencies and private sites to remove or refrain from posting sensitive personal information (home addresses, SSNs/DLs, precise geolocation), giving them direct control over online exposure.
Agencies and covered private sites must remove covered information from public content within 72 hours of request and legislative officers may submit consolidated lists or act on behalf of multiple covered individuals, streamlining and speeding administrative relief against online exposure.
Data brokers are barred from knowingly selling or purchasing covered information of at-risk individuals, reducing commercial circulation of sensitive location, identity, and financial data about those people.
News organizations and journalists may face narrower access to personal details about at-risk individuals and greater legal risk when publishing such details, which could chill investigative and public-interest reporting.
Broad definitions of 'covered information' and the new private right of action create legal uncertainty and are likely to produce litigation over coverage and newsworthiness, raising costs for defendants and courts.
Private websites, small businesses, and data aggregators must build notice-and-removal systems and comply with 72-hour takedowns and non-transfer rules, imposing operational costs and compliance burdens on smaller operators.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a privacy protection that stops the public posting and commercial sale or transfer of specified personal information for Members of Congress, certain congressional staff, former Members, and their immediate family/household members. Covered information includes home addresses, contact details, SSNs and driver’s license numbers, financial account numbers, vehicle identifiers, minor child identity and school/daycare information, precise non‑anonymized geolocation, travel routes, and other listed categories. Individuals must give written notice to federal agencies to mark information private; agencies and businesses generally must remove covered information from public sites within 72 hours of a request. Data brokers are prohibited from knowingly selling or buying such covered information. Limited exceptions apply (e.g., newsworthiness, voluntary posting, court order, GLBA Title V compliance), and the bill creates a private right of action to seek injunctive or declaratory relief for violations.
Introduced June 23, 2025 by Amy Klobuchar · Last progress October 10, 2025