On January 4th the 110th U.S. congress convened for the first time, and they did not waste any time introducing many new bills. 12 of them have privacy impacts. You can find more information about each of these at the THOMAS (Library of Congress) site. However, as of today (1/10/2007), the full texts for most of these bills are not yet available online.
From the Senate:
* Topic: INTERNET; S.49; Title: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prevent the carriage of child pornography by video service providers, to protect children from online predators, and to restrict the sale or purchase of children’s personal information in interstate commerce. Sponsor: Sen Stevens, Ted [AK]
NOTE: ISPs, and those organizations that serve as ISPs, keep your eye on S.49 for potential impacts.
* Topic: TRAVEL DOCUMENTS; S.76; Title: A bill to amend section 1028 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the possession, transfer, or use of fraudulent travel documents. Sponsor: Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY]
NOTE: Travel industry organizations, keep your eye on S.76 for potential impacts.
* Topic: TELECOMMUNICATIONS; S. 92; Title: A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the unlawful acquisition and use of confidential customer proprietary network information, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Stevens, Ted [AK]
NOTE: All organizations that handle personally identifiable information (PII), keep your eye on S.92 for potential impacts.
* Topic: ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE; S. 139; Title: A bill to expedite review by the Supreme Court of the warrantless electronic surveillance program of the National Security Agency. Sponsor: Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY]
NOTE: All organizations keep your eye on S.139 for potential impacts.
* Topic: ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE; S. 187; Title: A bill to provide sufficient resources to permit electronic surveillance of United States persons for foreign intelligence purposes to be conducted pursuant to individualized court-issued orders for calls originating in the United States, to provide additional resources to enhance oversight and streamline the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, to ensure review of the Terrorist Surveillance Program by the United States Supreme Court, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Specter, Arlen [PA]
NOTE: All organizations that handle personally identifiable information (PII), keep your eye on S.187 for potential impacts.
From the House:
* Topic: ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE; H.R. 11; Title: To reiterate that chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United States Code, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29]
NOTE: All organizations that handle personally identifiable information (PII), keep your eye on H.R.11 for potential impacts.
* Topic: EMPLOYMENT ISSUES; H.R. 19; Title: To require employers to conduct employment eligibility verification. Sponsor: Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44]
NOTE: All organizations with employees, keep your eye on H.R.19 for potential impacts.
* Topic: EMPLOYMENT ISSUES; H.R. 98; Title: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to enforce restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens through the use of improved Social Security cards and an Employment Eligibility Database, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Dreier, David [CA-26].
NOTE: All organizations that have employees, keep your eye on H.R.98 for potential impacts.
* Topic; EDUCATION; H.R. 128; Title: To amend the Federal Education Right to Privacy Act to improve the access of the victims of crimes to information concerning the outcome of disciplinary proceedings by institutions of higher education. Sponsor: Rep Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. [NJ-11]
NOTE: All colleges and universities, keep your eye on H.R.128 for potential impacts.
* Topic: SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS; H.R. 136; Title: To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide that individuals and appropriate authorities are notified by the Commissioner of Social Security of evidence of misuse of the Social Security account numbers of such individuals. Sponsor: Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24]
NOTE: H.R.136 is of interest to anyone concerned with the use, or misuse, of Social Security numbers.
* Topic: EMPLOYMENT ISSUES; H.R. 138; Title: To require an employer to take action after receiving official notice that an individual’s Social Security account number does not match the individual’s name, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24]
NOTE: All organizations that have employees, keep your eye on H.R.138 for potential impacts.
* Topic: SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS; H.R. 220; Title: To amend title II of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect the integrity and confidentiality of Social Security account numbers issued under such title, to prohibit the establishment in the Federal Government of any uniform national identifying number, and to prohibit Federal agencies from imposing standards for identification of individuals on other agencies or persons. Sponsor: Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14]
NOTE: All organizations that handle Social Security numbers, keep your eye on H.R.220 for potential impacts.
Tags: awareness and training, data protection law, education, employment, government, Information Security, internet, IT compliance, privacy, social security numbers, surveillance, telecommunications, travel