II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4981 

To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote 

responsible data use, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and 

promote responsible data use, and for other 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 ‘‘Promoting Digital Pri5 vacy Technologies Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) PERSONAL DATA.—The term ‘‘personal 

9 data’’ means information that identifies, is linked, or 


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1 is reasonably linkable to, an individual or a con2 sumer device, including derived data. 

3 (2) PRIVACY ENHANCING TECHNOLOGY.—The 

4 term ‘‘privacy enhancing technology’’— 

5 (A) means any software solution, technical 

6 processes, or other technological means of en7 hancing the privacy and confidentiality of an in8 dividual’s personal data in data or sets of data; 

9 and 

10 (B) includes anonymization and pseudony11 mization techniques, filtering tools, anti-track12 ing technology, differential privacy tools, syn13 thetic data, and secure multi-party computa14 tion. 

15 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SUPPORT OF RE16 SEARCH ON PRIVACY ENHANCING TECH17 NOLOGY. 

18 The Director of the National Science Foundation, in 

19 consultation with other relevant Federal agencies (as de20 termined by the Director), shall support merit-reviewed 

21 and competitively awarded research on privacy enhancing 

22 technologies, which may include— 

23 (1) fundamental research on technologies for 

24 de-identification, pseudonymization, anonymization, 


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1 or obfuscation of personal data in data sets while 

2 maintaining fairness, accuracy, and efficiency; 

3 (2) fundamental research on algorithms and 

4 other similar mathematical tools used to protect in5 dividual privacy when collecting, storing, sharing, or 

6 aggregating data; 

7 (3) fundamental research on technologies that 

8 promote data minimization principles in data collec9 tion, sharing, and analytics; and 

10 (4) research awards on privacy enhancing tech11 nologies coordinated with other relevant Federal 

12 agencies and programs. 

13 SEC. 4. INTEGRATION INTO THE COMPUTER AND NETWORK 

14 SECURITY PROGRAM. 

15 Subparagraph (D) of section 4(a)(1) of the Cyber Se16 curity Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 7403(a)(1)(D)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(D) privacy enhancing technologies and 

19 confidentiality;’’. 

20 SEC. 5. COORDINATION WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 

21 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER 

22 STAKEHOLDERS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

24 Science and Technology Policy, acting through the Net25 working and Information Technology Research and DevelVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4981.IS S4981

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1 opment Program, shall coordinate with the Director of the 

2 National Science Foundation, the Director of the National 

3 Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Federal 

4 Trade Commission to accelerate the development and use 

5 of privacy enhancing technologies. 

6 (b) OUTREACH.—The Director of the National Insti7 tute of Standards and Technology shall conduct outreach 

8 to— 

9 (1) receive input from private, public, and aca10 demic stakeholders, including the National Institutes 

11 of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and 

12 Prevention for the purpose of facilitating public 

13 health research, on the development of privacy en14 hancing technologies; and 

15 (2) develop ongoing public and private sector 

16 engagement to create and disseminate voluntary, 

17 consensus-based resources to increase the integra18 tion of privacy enhancing technologies in data collec19 tion, sharing, and analytics by the public and private 

20 sectors. 

21 SEC. 6. REPORT ON RESEARCH AND STANDARDS DEVELOP22 MENT. 

23 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech25 nology Policy, acting through the Networking and InforVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4981.IS S4981

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1 mation Technology Research and Development Program, 

2 shall, in coordination with the Director of the National 

3 Science Foundation and the Director of the National In4 stitute of Standards and Technology, submit to the Com5 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

6 Senate, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, 

7 and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations 

8 of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and 

9 Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Sub10 committee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 

11 Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

12 House of Representatives, a report containing— 

13 (1) the progress of research on privacy enhanc14 ing technologies; 

15 (2) the progress of the development of vol16 untary resources described under section 5(b)(2); 

17 and 

18 (3) any policy recommendations of the Direc19 tors that could facilitate and improve communication 

20 and coordination between the private sector, the Na21 tional Science Foundation, and relevant Federal 

22 agencies through the implementation of privacy en23 hancing technologies. 

Æ 


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