Sponsor
Ronald Lee Wyden
Senator · D-OR
Senator · D-OR
The bill strengthens privacy and safety for covered federal officials and their families by forcing rapid removal and restricting commercial sales of sensitive personal data, but it reduces some public access to information, creates compliance costs for private sites, and may be unevenly enforced.
Members of Congress, designated staff, and their immediate family can have sensitive personal data (home addresses, phone numbers, SSNs, precise geolocation, etc.) removed from public records and websites, and government agencies are required to remove covered information within 72 hours of a request, reducing stalking and physical-safety risks for those individuals and their children.
Covered persons gain a clear right to privacy by being able to request removal of a wide set of sensitive data, reducing commercial and public exposure of personal information for federal officials and their families.
Data brokers are prohibited from selling or licensing covered information about covered persons, cutting down commercial distribution channels for sensitive federal-official data.
Journalists and the public may see reporting and public-interest disclosures hindered or delayed because the law requires removal or restriction of certain information about public officials, potentially reducing transparency and public oversight.
Enforcement depends on state or federal attorneys general and private lawsuits, which could produce uneven enforcement, slow relief for some individuals, and inconsistent application across jurisdictions.
Private businesses and websites must remove covered information within 72 hours and prevent further availability, imposing compliance costs and technical burdens that could be passed on to consumers or disproportionately affect small websites and businesses.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines and protects categories of personally identifying information for Members, certain staff, former Members, and their families in public records while excluding legally required campaign filings.
Official title: Improve the safety and security of Members of Congress, immediate family members of Members of Congress, and congressional staff.
Introduced September 17, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress September 17, 2025
Creates privacy protections for certain personal information about Members of Congress, designated congressional employees, former Members, and their family/household members by defining "covered information" and assigning administrative roles to House and Senate offices to protect that data in public records; it also excludes campaign- and law-required disclosures from protection. The bill sets definitions (including who counts as an "at-risk individual" and what categories of personally identifying information are covered) and defines "data broker," but does not in the provided text include funding, deadlines, or enforcement details.