I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 97

To provide protection from personal intrusion for commercial purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide protection from personal intrusion for commercial

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Personal Privacy Pro5 tection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 89 of title 18, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow9 ing:
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1 ‘‘§ 1822. Reckless endangerment; tortious invasion of

2 privacy

3 ‘‘(a) RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT.—Whoever, in or

4 affecting interstate or foreign commerce and for commer5 cial purposes, persistently follows or chases a person, in

6 a manner that causes that person to have a reasonable

7 fear of bodily injury, in order to capture by a visual or

8 auditory recording instrument any type of visual image,

9 sound recording, or other physical impression of that per10 son shall—

11 ‘‘(1) if death or serious bodily injury results, be

12 fined under this title or imprisoned not more than

13 30 years, or both; and

14 ‘‘(2) be liable in a civil action for any appro15 priate relief.

16 ‘‘(b) TORTIOUS INVASION OF PRIVACY.—Whoever, in

17 or affecting interstate or foreign commerce and for com18 mercial purposes, engages in a tortious invasion of the pri19 vacy of another person in order to capture by a visual or

20 auditory recording instrument any type of visual image,

21 sound recording, or other physical impression of that per22 son shall in a civil action be liable to any party injured

23 for any appropriate relief.

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

25 section—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘for commercial purposes’ means

2 with the expectation of sale, financial gain, or other

3 consideration;

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘tortious invasion of privacy’

5 means—

6 ‘‘(A) a capture of any type of visual image,

7 sound recording, or other physical impression of

8 a personal or familial activity through the use

9 of a visual or auditory enhancement device, if—

10 ‘‘(i) the subject has a reasonable ex11 pectation of privacy with respect to that

12 activity; and

13 ‘‘(ii) the image, recording, or impres14 sion could not have been captured without

15 a trespass if not produced by the use of

16 the enhancement device; or

17 ‘‘(B) a trespass on private property in

18 order to capture any type of visual image,

19 sound recording, or other physical impression of

20 any person; and

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘any appropriate relief ’ may in22 clude compensatory damages, punitive damages, and

23 injunctive and declaratory relief.

24 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON DEFENSES.—It is not a defense

25 to a prosecution or civil action under subsection (a) that—
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1 ‘‘(1) no image or recording was captured; or

2 ‘‘(2) no image or recording was sold.

3 ‘‘(e) USE OF IMAGES.—Nothing in this section makes

4 the sale, transmission, publication, broadcast, or use of

5 any image or recording of the type or under the cir6 cumstances described in this section in any otherwise law7 ful manner by any person subject to criminal charge or

8 civil liability.

9 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—Only a person physically present

10 at the time of, and engaging, or assisting another in en11 gaging, in a violation of this section is subject to criminal

12 charge or civil liability under this section. A person shall

13 not be subject to such charge or liability by reason of the

14 conduct of an agent, employee, or contractor of that per15 son or because images or recordings captured in violation

16 of this section were solicited, bought, used, or sold by that

17 person.

18 ‘‘(g) LAW ENFORCEMENT EXEMPTION.—The prohi19 bitions of this section do not apply with respect to official

20 law enforcement activities.

21 ‘‘(h) NONPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall

22 be taken to preempt any right or remedy otherwise avail23 able under Federal, State, or local law.’’.

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

25 at the beginning of chapter 89 of title 18, United States
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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

2 item:

‘‘1822. Reckless endangerment; tortious invasion of privacy.’’.

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