Sponsors
The bill enhances privacy and safety for Members of Congress, staff, and their families by removing and restricting commercial sharing of sensitive contact information, while trading off some public transparency and imposing compliance and litigation costs on agencies, publishers, and data brokers.
Members of Congress, designated staff, and their immediate family members can have home addresses, phone numbers, emails, and other sensitive personal data removed from public agency websites within 72 hours after filing a request, reducing their public exposure and risk of targeted harassment.
Federal employees and other protected persons will face less commercial exposure because data brokers are prohibited from knowingly selling or licensing their covered personal information, limiting third‑party dissemination.
Affected individuals (Members, staff) may delegate removal requests to legislative officers or authorized agents, simplifying and speeding the process for busy public officials.
Taxpayers and the public may lose access to some government records about Members of Congress and their associates as contact and identifying information is removed, reducing transparency and public oversight of officials.
Government agencies and private websites will face new compliance obligations to remove and block covered information within 72 hours, increasing administrative workload and compliance costs.
Data brokers, publishers, and small businesses could face litigation risk and associated costs from the private right of action and possible state enforcement if accused of violating the restrictions on covered information.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines protected personal identifying information for Members, staff, families, and former Members and assigns legislative officers to shield that data from public disclosure, with campaign‑law exceptions.
Introduced September 17, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress September 17, 2025
Creates definitions and privacy protections to keep certain personal identifying information about Members of Congress, their families, household members, designated legislative employees, former Members, and related candidates out of public records. It lists specific categories of protected personal data (home address, personal phone and email, SSN, driver’s license, bank and card numbers, vehicle identifiers, child-identifying info, school/day care details, commuting routes, and precise device geolocation) and assigns responsibility for protection to designated House and Senate officers acting for Members and employees. Excludes information that is required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission or otherwise required by federal or state law for candidate qualification. The bill mainly sets definitions and allocations of responsibility; it does not spell out funding, enforcement mechanisms, or complete all definitions in the provided text.