I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 184

To amend the privacy provisions of title 5, United States Code, to improve

the protection of individual information and to reestablish a permanent

Privacy Protection Commission as an independent entity in the Federal

Government, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

A BILL

To amend the privacy provisions of title 5, United States

Code, to improve the protection of individual information

and to reestablish a permanent Privacy Protection Commission as an independent entity in the Federal Government, 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 referred to as the ‘‘Individual Pri5 vacy Protection Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 The Congress hereby finds that—
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1 (1) recent advances in information and tele2 communications technologies have rapidly expanded

3 the collection of personal data on individuals, and

4 improved the speed and access with which such data

5 can be retrieved and disseminated;

6 (2) the increased use of these technologies and

7 their related systems, channels, and services has se8 rious implications for injury to individual privacy

9 that can occur from any collection, maintenance,

10 use, or dissemination of personal information;

11 (3) neither existing privacy legislation nor the

12 Communications Act of 1934 provides for the peri13 odic assessment and evaluation of personal privacy

14 implications regarding data information maintained,

15 transmitted, or accessed via computer cable, broad16 cast, common carrier, or related new technologies;

17 (4) the right to privacy is a personal and fun18 damental right protected by the Constitution of the

19 United States; and

20 (5) in order to determine the extent to which

21 the privacy of individuals identified in information

22 systems maintained by or accessed via cable, broad23 cast, common carrier, and related new technologies

24 is protected, it is necessary and proper for the Con-
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1 gress to require the collection and evaluation of data

2 relevant to this purpose.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SYSTEM OF RECORDS.

4 Section 552a(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘system of records’ means a

7 group of any records under the control of any agen8 cy in which individual records are—

9 ‘‘(A)(i) systematically filed, stored, or oth10 erwise maintained according to an established

11 retrieval scheme or indexing structure; and

12 ‘‘(ii) in practice, accessed by use of, or by

13 reference to, such retrieval scheme or indexing

14 structure for the principal purpose of retrieving

15 the record (or any portion thereof) on the basis

16 of the identity of, or so as to identify, an indi17 vidual; or

18 ‘‘(B) otherwise readily accessible because—

19 ‘‘(i) the agency is able to access the

20 record without an unreasonable expendi21 ture of time, money, effort, or other re22 sources; or

23 ‘‘(ii) the individual to whom a record

24 pertains is able to provide sufficiently spe25 cific locating information so as to render
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1 the record accessible without such an un2 reasonable expenditure;’’.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF ROUTINE USE.

4 Section 552a(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code, is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(7) the term ‘routine use’ means the use or

7 disclosure of an individually identifiable record for a

8 purpose which is—

9 ‘‘(A) compatible with the purpose for

10 which the information in the record was col11 lected or obtained; and

12 ‘‘(B) consistent with the conditions or rea13 sonable expectations of the use and disclosure

14 under which the information in the record was

15 provided, collected, or obtained.’’.

16 SEC. 5. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION.

17 Section 552a(g)(4) of title 5, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking out ‘‘$1,000; and’’ in subpara20 graph (A) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$2,000;’’;

21 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub22 paragraph (C); and

23 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A), the fol24 lowing new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(B) general damages sustained by the in2 dividual as a result of the refusal or failure, but

3 in no case shall a person entitled to recovery re4 ceive less than the sum of $2,000, nor more

5 than the sum of $20,000 as general damages;

6 and’’.

7 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY

8 PROTECTION BOARD.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; MEMBERSHIP; BUDGETARY

10 AND LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) There is es11 tablished an Individual Privacy Protection Board (herein12 after referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) which shall be composed

13 of five members appointed by the President, by and with

14 the advice and consent of the Senate. Members of the

15 Board shall be chosen on the basis of their experience,

16 integrity, impartiality, and good judgment from among in17 dividuals who, at the time of their appointment, are not

18 elected or appointed officers or employees in the executive,

19 legislative, or judicial branch of the Government.

20 (2) Each member of the Board shall hold office for

21 a term of four years, except that a member may continue

22 to serve until a successor has taken office. Any vacancy

23 in the membership of the Board, as long as there are four

24 members in office, shall not impair the power of the Board

25 but shall be filled in the same manner in which the original
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1 appointment was made. No member shall be eligible to

2 serve for more than two complete terms of office on the

3 Board.

4 (3) The members of the Board shall elect a Chairman

5 from among themselves. A quorum of the Board shall con6 sist of a majority of the members, except that the Board

7 may establish a lower number as a quorum for the purpose

8 of taking testimony. The Board is authorized to establish

9 such committees and delegate such authority to them as

10 may be necessary to carry out its functions. Each member

11 of the Board, including the Chairman, shall have equal

12 responsibility and authority in all decisions and actions of

13 the Board, shall have full access to all information nec14 essary to the performance of their functions, and shall

15 have one vote. Action of the Board shall be determined

16 by a majority vote of the members present. The Chairman

17 (or a member designated by the Chairman to be acting

18 Chairman) shall be the official spokesman of the Board

19 in its relations with the Congress, Government agencies,

20 other persons, and the public, and, on behalf of the Board,

21 shall see to the faithful execution of the administrative

22 policies and decisions of the Board, and shall report there23 on to the Board from time to time or as the Board may

24 direct.
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1 (4)(A) Whenever the Board submits any budget esti2 mate or request to the President or the Office of Manage3 ment and Budget, it shall concurrently transmit a copy

4 of that request to the Congress.

5 (B) Whenever the Board submits any legislative rec6 ommendations, or testimony, or comments on legislation

7 to the President or Office of Management and Budget,

8 it shall concurrently transmit a copy thereof to the Con9 gress. No officer or agency of the United States shall have

10 any authority to require the Board to submit its legislative

11 recommendations, or testimony, or comments on legisla12 tion, to any officer or agency of the United States for ap13 proval, comments, or review, prior to the submission of

14 such recommendations, testimony, or comments to the

15 Congress.

16 (b) DUTIES OF BOARD.—The Board shall—

17 (1) make a study of the data banks, automated

18 data processing programs, information systems, and

19 other telecommunications and data processing tech20 nologies and services of governmental, regional, and

21 private organizations, in order to determine the

22 standards and procedures in force for the protection

23 of personal information;

24 (2) recommend to the President and the Con25 gress the extent, if any, to which the requirements
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1 and principles of section 552a of title 5, United

2 States Code, should be applied to the information

3 practices of those organizations by legislation, ad4 ministrative action, or voluntary adoption of such re5 quirements and principles, and report on such other

6 legislative recommendations as it may determine to

7 be necessary to protect the privacy of individuals

8 while meeting the legitimate needs of government

9 and society for information;

10 (3) develop guidelines and model regulations for

11 the use of Federal agencies in implementing the pro12 visions of section 552a of title 5, United States

13 Code;

14 (4) provide continuing assistance to Federal

15 agencies in implementing section 552a of title 5,

16 United States Code;

17 (5) publish on a regular basis a guide to the

18 use of section 552a of title 5, United States Code,

19 and a compilation of agency system of records no20 tices, together with an index (or other finding aids);

21 (6) investigate compliance with section 552a of

22 title 5, United States Code, and report on any viola23 tion of any provision thereof (or of any regulation

24 promulgated under such section) to the President,

25 the Attorney General, and the Congress;
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1 (7) file comments on any proposal (A) to amend

2 section 552a of title 5, United States Code, or any

3 regulation promulgated under such section, (B) to

4 create or modify a system of records, or (C) to es5 tablish or alter routine uses of such a system;

6 (8) review Federal law, Executive orders, regu7 lations, directives, and judicial decisions and report

8 on the extent to which they are consistent with the

9 rights of privacy, due process of law, and other

10 guarantees in the Constitution; and

11 (9) comment on the implications for data pro12 tection of proposed Federal, State, or local statutes,

13 regulations, or procedures.

14 (c) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH.—(1) In

15 the course of conducting the study required under sub16 section (b)(1) of this section, and in its reports thereon,

17 the Board may research, examine, and analyze—

18 (A) interstate transfer of information about in19 dividuals that is undertaken through manual files or

20 by computer or other electronic or telecommuni21 cations means;

22 (B) data banks and information programs and

23 systems the operation of which significantly or sub24 stantially affect the enjoyment of the privacy and

25 other personal and property rights of individuals;
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1 (C) the use of social security numbers, license

2 plate numbers, universal identifiers, and other sym3 bols to identify individuals in data banks and to gain

4 access to, integrate, or centralize information sys5 tems and files; and

6 (D) the matching and analysis of statistical

7 data, such as Federal census data, with other

8 sources of personal data, such as automobile reg9 istries and telephone directories, in order to recon10 struct individual responses to statistical question11 naires for commercial or other purposes, in a way

12 which results in a violation of the implied or explic13 itly recognized confidentiality of such information.

14 (2)(A) The Board may include in its examination per15 sonal information activities in the following areas: medical;

16 insurance; education; employment and personnel; credit,

17 banking and financial institutions; credit bureaus; the

18 commercial reporting industry; cable television and other

19 telecommunications media; travel, hotel, and entertain20 ment reservations; and electronic check processing.

21 (B) The Board shall include in its examination a

22 study of—

23 (i) whether a person engaged in interstate com24 merce who maintains a mailing list should be re-
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1 quired to remove an individual’s name and address

2 from such list upon request of that individual;

3 (ii) whether the Internal Revenue Service

4 should be prohibited from transferring individually

5 identifiable data to other agencies and to agen6 cies of State governments;

7 (iii) whether the Federal Government should be

8 liable for general damages incurred by an individual

9 as the result of a willful or intentional violation of

10 the provisions of section 552a(g)(1) (C) or (D) of

11 title 5, United States Code; and

12 (iv) whether and how the standards for security

13 and confidentiality of records required under section

14 552a(e)(10) of such title should be applied when a

15 record is disclosed to a person other than an agency.

16 (C) The Board may study such other personal infor17 mation activities necessary to carry out the congressional

18 policy embodied in this Act, except that the Board

19 shall not investigate information systems maintained by

20 religious organizations.

21 (3) In conducting such study, the Board shall—

22 (A) determine the laws, Executive orders, regu23 lations, directives, and judicial decisions that govern

24 the activities under study and the extent to which

25 they are consistent with the rights of privacy, due
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1 process of law, and other guarantees in the Con2 stitution;

3 (B) determine to what extent governmental and

4 private information systems affect Federal-State re5 lations or the principle of separation of powers;

6 (C) examine the standards and criteria govern7 ing programs, policies, and practices relating to the

8 collection, soliciting, processing, use, access, integra9 tion, dissemination, and transmission of personal in10 formation; and

11 (D) to the maximum extent practicable, collect

12 and utilize findings, reports, studies, hearing tran13 scripts, and recommendations of governmental, legis14 lative and private bodies, institutions, organizations,

15 and individuals which pertain to the problems under

16 study by the Board.

17 (d) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—In addition to its

18 other functions the Board may—

19 (1) request assistance of the heads of appro20 priate departments, agencies, and instrumentalities

21 of the Federal Government, of State and local gov22 ernments, and of other persons in carrying out its

23 functions under this Act;
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1 (2) upon request, assist Federal agencies in

2 complying with the requirements of section 552a of

3 title 5, United States Code;

4 (3) determine what specific categories of infor5 mation, the collection of which would violate an indi6 vidual’s right of privacy, should be prohibited by

7 statute from collection by Federal agencies; and

8 (4) upon request, prepare model legislation for

9 use by State and local governments in establishing

10 procedures for handling, maintaining, and dissemi11 nating personal information at the State and local

12 level and provide such technical assistance to State

13 and local governments as they may require in the

14 preparation and implementation of such legislation.

15 (e) INVESTIGATIONS AND HEARINGS.—(1) The

16 Board may, in carrying out its functions under this sec17 tion, conduct such inspections, sit and act at such times

18 and places, hold such hearings, take such testimony, re19 quire by subpoena the attendance of such witnesses and

20 the production of such books, records, papers, correspond21 ence, and documents, administer such oaths, have such

22 printing and binding done, and make such expenditures

23 as the Board deems advisable. A subpoena shall be issued

24 only upon an affirmative vote of a majority of all members

25 of the Board. Subpoenas shall be issued under the signa-
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1 ture of the Chairman or any member of the Board des2 ignated by the Chairman and shall be served by any per3 son designated by the Chairman or any such member. Any

4 member of the Board may administer oaths or affirma5 tions to witnesses appearing before the Board.

6 (2)(A) Each department, agency, and instrumentality

7 of the executive branch of the Government is authorized

8 to furnish to the Board, upon request made by the Chair9 man, such information, data, reports and such other as10 sistance as the Board deems necessary to carry out its

11 functions under this section. Whenever the head of any

12 such department, agency, or instrumentality submits a re13 port pursuant to section 552a(o) of title 5, United States

14 Code, a copy of such report shall be transmitted to the

15 Board.

16 (B) In carrying out its functions and exercising its

17 powers under this section, the Board may accept from any

18 such department, agency, independent instrumentality, or

19 other person any individually identifiable data if such data

20 is necessary to carry out such powers and functions. In

21 any case in which the Board accepts any such information,

22 it shall assure that the information is used only for the

23 purpose for which it is provided, and upon completion of

24 that purpose such information shall be destroyed or re25 turned to such department, agency, independent instru-
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1 mentality, or person from which it is obtained, as appro2 priate.

3 (f) PERSONNEL.—(1) The Board shall have the

4 power to—

5 (A) appoint and fix the compensation of an ex6 ecutive director, and such additional staff personnel

7 as may be necessary, without regard to the provi8 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing ap9 pointments in the competitive service, and without

10 regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter

11 53 of such title relating to classification and General

12 Schedule pay rates, but at rates not in excess of the

13 maximum rate payable under section 5376 of such

14 title; and

15 (B) procure temporary and intermittent services

16 to the same extent as is authorized by section 3109

17 of title 5, United States Code.

18 (2) The Board may delegate any of its functions to

19 such personnel of the Board as the Board may designate

20 and may authorize such successive redelegations of such

21 functions as it may deem desirable.

22 (g) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Board is author23 ized—
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1 (1) to adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regu2 lations governing the manner of its operations, orga3 nization, and personnel;

4 (2) to enter into contracts or other arrange5 ments or modifications thereof, with any govern6 ment, any department, agency, or independent in7 strumentality of the United States, or with any per8 son, firm, association, or corporation, and such con9 tracts or other arrangements, or modifications there10 of, may be entered into without legal consideration,

11 without performance or other bonds, and without re12 gard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41

13 U.S.C. 5);

14 (3) to make advance, progress, and other pay15 ments which the Board deems necessary under this

16 Act without regard to the provisions of section 3324

17 of title 31, United States Code; and

18 (4) to take such other action as may be nec19 essary to carry out its functions under this section.

20 (h) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES OF MEMBERS.—

21 (1) Each member of the Board who is an officer or em22 ployee of the United States shall serve without additional

23 compensation, but shall continue to receive the salary of

24 his regular position when engaged in the performance of

25 the duties vested in the Board.
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1 (2) A member of the Board other than one to whom

2 paragraph (1) applies shall receive per diem at the maxi3 mum daily rate payable under section 5376 of title 5,

4 United States Code, when engaged in the actual perform5 ance of the duties vested in the Board.

6 (3) All members of the Board shall be reimbursed for

7 travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred

8 by them in the performance of the duties vested in the

9 Board.

10 (i) ANNUAL AND OTHER REPORTS.—The Board

11 shall, from time to time, and in an annual report, report

12 to the President and the Congress on its activities in car13 rying out the provisions of this section.

14 (j) PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF PRIVACY RIGHTS.—

15 (1) Any member, officer, or employee of the Board, who

16 by virtue of his employment or official position, has pos17 session of, or access to, agency records which contain indi18 vidually identifiable information the disclosure of which is

19 prohibited by this section, and who knowing that disclo20 sure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully dis21 closes the material in any manner to any person or agency

22 not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor

23 and fined not more than $5,000.

24 (2) Any person who knowingly and willfully requests

25 or obtains any record concerning an individual from the
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1 Board under false pretenses shall be guilty of a mis2 demeanor and fined not more than $5,000.

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