II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2481

To require that notices to consumers of health and financial services include 

information on the outsourcing of sensitive personal information abroad, 

to require relevant Federal agencies to prescribe regulations to ensure 

the privacy and security of sensitive personal information outsourced 

abroad, to establish requirements for foreign call centers, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 1, 2004

Mr. NELSON of Florida (for himself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL

To require that notices to consumers of health and financial 

services include information on the outsourcing of sensitive personal information abroad, to require relevant 

Federal agencies to prescribe regulations to ensure the 

privacy and security of sensitive personal information 

outsourced abroad, to establish requirements for foreign 

call centers, 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,
2

•S 2481 IS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increasing Notice of 

3 Foreign Outsourcing Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. HEALTH PRIVACY. 

5 (a) FOREIGN-BASED BUSINESS ASSOCIATE.—In this 

6 section, the term ‘‘foreign-based business associate’’ 

7 means a business associate, as defined under the regula8 tions promulgated pursuant to section 264(c) of the 

9 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 

10 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note), whose operation is based 

11 outside the United States and that receives protected 

12 health information and processes such information outside 

13 the United States. 

14 (b) NOTICES.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services (referred to in this section as the 

17 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall revise the regulations prescribed 

18 pursuant to section 264(c) of the Health Insurance 

19 Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 

20 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note) to require a covered entity (as 

21 defined under such regulations and referred to in 

22 this section as a ‘‘covered entity’’), that outsources 

23 protected health information (as defined under such 

24 regulations and referred to in this section as ‘‘pro25 tected health information’’), outside the United 
3

•S 2481 IS 

1 States to include in such entity’s notice of privacy 

2 protections the following: 

3 (A) The following information in simple 

4 language: 

5 (i) Notification that the covered entity 

6 outsources protected health information to 

7 foreign-based business associates. 

8 (ii) Any risks and consequences to the 

9 privacy and security of protected health in10 formation that arise as a result of the 

11 processing of such information outside the 

12 United States. 

13 (iii) Additional measures the covered 

14 entity is taking to protect the protected 

15 health information outsourced for proc16 essing outside the United States. 

17 (B) A certification that the covered entity 

18 has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the 

19 handling of protected health information will be 

20 done in compliance with applicable laws in all 

21 instances where protected health information is 

22 processed outside the United States, including 

23 the reasons for the certification. 

24 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A covered entity shall 

25 be required to include in such entity’s notice of pri-
4

•S 2481 IS 

1 vacy protections the information and certification de2 scribed in paragraph (1) for notices issued on or 

3 after the date on which the Secretary prescribes reg4 ulations pursuant to this section or the date that is 

5 365 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 whichever date is earlier. Nothing in this subsection 

7 shall be construed to require a covered entity to re8 issue notices issued before the date on which the 

9 Secretary prescribes regulations pursuant to this 

10 section or the date that is 365 days after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, whichever date is earlier, 

12 to include in such notices the information and cer13 tification described in paragraph (1). 

14 (c) RULEMAKING.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—

16 (A) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Sec17 retary shall—

18 (i) prescribe such regulations con19 sistent with paragraph (2) as may be nec20 essary to carry out this section with re21 spect to foreign outsourcing; and 

22 (ii) determine the appropriate pen23 alties to impose upon a covered entity for 

24 a violation of a provision of this subsection 

25 or subsection (b). 
5

•S 2481 IS 

1 (B) PROCEDURES AND DEADLINES.—The 

2 regulations described in subparagraph (A) shall 

3 be prescribed in accordance with all applicable 

4 legal requirements and shall be issued in final 

5 form not later than 365 days after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act. 

7 (2) NECESSARY REGULATIONS.—The Secretary 

8 shall prescribe regulations—

9 (A) requiring that a contract between a 

10 covered entity and such entity’s foreign-based 

11 business associate contain a provision that pro12 vides such entity with the right to audit such 

13 associate, as needed, to monitor performance 

14 under the contract; and 

15 (B) requiring that foreign-based business 

16 associates and subcontractors of covered enti17 ties be contractually bound by Federal privacy 

18 standards and security safeguards. 

19 (d) BREACH OF SECURITY.—

20 (1) BREACH OF SECURITY OF THE SYSTEM.—

21 In this subsection, the term ‘‘breach of security of 

22 the system’’—

23 (A) means the compromise of the security, 

24 confidentiality, or integrity of computerized 

25 data that results in, or there is a reasonable 
6

•S 2481 IS 

1 basis to conclude has resulted in, the unauthor2 ized acquisition of and access to protected 

3 health information maintained by the covered

4 entity, foreign-based business associate, or sub5 contractor; and 

6 (B) does not include good faith acquisition 

7 of protected health information by an employee 

8 or agent of the covered entity, foreign-based 

9 business associate, or subcontractor for the pur10 poses of the entity, associate, or subcontractor, 

11 if the protected health information is not used 

12 or subject to further unauthorized disclosure. 

13 (2) DATABASE SECURITY.—

14 (A) COVERED ENTITY.—A covered enti15 ty—

16 (i) that owns or licenses electronic 

17 data containing protected health informa18 tion shall, following the discovery of a 

19 breach of security of the system containing 

20 such data, notify the Secretary of such 

21 breach; or 

22 (ii) that receives a notification under 

23 subparagraph (B) of a breach, shall notify 

24 the Secretary of such breach. 

25 (B) OTHER PARTIES.—
7

•S 2481 IS 

1 (i) THIRD PARTY.—The Secretary 

2 shall require that a contract between a cov3 ered entity and such entity’s foreign-based 

4 business associate contain a provision that 

5 if the foreign-based business associate (or 

6 any subcontractor of such associate) owns 

7 or licenses electronic data containing pro8 tected health information that was pro9 vided to the associate through the covered 

10 entity, the associate (or subcontractor) 

11 shall, following the discovery of a breach of 

12 security of the system containing such 

13 data—

14 (I) notify the entity from which it 

15 received the protected health informa16 tion of such breach; and 

17 (II) provide a description to the 

18 entity from which it received the pro19 tected health information of any cor20 rective actions taken to guard against 

21 future security breaches. 

22 (ii) NOTIFICATION PROCESS.—Each 

23 entity that receives a notification under 

24 clause (i) shall notify the entity from which 

25 it received the protected health information 
8

•S 2481 IS 

1 of such breach until the notification 

2 reaches the foreign-based business asso3 ciate who shall, in turn, notify the covered 

4 entity of such breach. 

5 (C) TIMELINESS OF NOTIFICATION.—All 

6 notifications required under subparagraphs (A) 

7 and (B) shall be made as expediently as pos8 sible and without unreasonable delay fol9 lowing—

10 (i) the discovery of a breach of secu11 rity of the system; and 

12 (ii) any measures necessary to deter13 mine the scope of the breach, prevent fur14 ther disclosures, and restore the reasonable 

15 integrity of the data system. 

16 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

17 take effect on the expiration of the date that is 365 

18 days after the date of enactment of this subsection. 

19 SEC. 3. FINANCIAL PRIVACY. 

20 (a) FOREIGN-BASED BUSINESS.—Section 509 of the 

21 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6809) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(12) FOREIGN-BASED BUSINESS.—The term 

24 ‘foreign-based business’ means a nonaffiliated third 

25 party whose operation is based outside the United 
9

•S 2481 IS 

1 States and that receives nonpublic personal informa2 tion and processes such information outside the 

3 United States.’’. 

4 (b) FINANCIAL NOTICES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 503(b) of the 

6 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6803(b)) is 

7 amended—

8 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 after the semicolon; 

10 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) if the financial institution outsources non14 public personal information outside the United 

15 States—

16 ‘‘(A) information informing the consumer 

17 in simple language—

18 ‘‘(i) that the financial institution 

19 outsources nonpublic personal information 

20 to foreign-based businesses; 

21 ‘‘(ii) of any risks and consequences to 

22 the privacy and security of an individual’s 

23 nonpublic personal information that arise 

24 as a result of the processing of such infor25 mation outside the United States; and 
10

•S 2481 IS 

1 ‘‘(iii) of the additional measures the 

2 financial institution is taking to protect the 

3 nonpublic personal information outsourced 

4 for processing outside the United States; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) a certification that the financial insti7 tution has taken reasonable steps to ensure that 

8 the handling of nonpublic personal information 

9 will be done in compliance with applicable laws 

10 in all instances where nonpublic personal infor11 mation is processed outside the United States, 

12 including the reasons for the certification.’’. 

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—A financial institution 

14 shall include in such institution’s disclosure the in15 formation and certification described in the amend16 ment made by paragraph (1)(C) for disclosures pro17 vided on or after the date on which the regulatory 

18 agency that has jurisdiction over such institution 

19 pursuant to section 505 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 6805) prescribes regulations pursu21 ant to the amendments made by this section or the 

22 date that is 365 days after the date of enactment of 

23 this Act, whichever date is earlier. Nothing in this 

24 subsection, or the amendments made by this sub25 section, shall be construed to require a financial in-
11

•S 2481 IS 

1 stitution to reissue disclosures provided before the 

2 date on which the regulatory agency that has juris3 diction over such institution pursuant to section 505 

4 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6805) 

5 prescribes regulations pursuant to the amendments 

6 made by this section or the date that is 365 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever 

8 date is earlier, to include in such disclosures the in9 formation and certification described in the amend10 ment made by paragraph (1)(C). 

11 (c) RULEMAKING.—Section 504 of the Gramm12 Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6804) is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(c) RULEMAKING ON FOREIGN OUTSOURCING.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

16 ‘‘(A) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Fed17 eral banking agencies, the National Credit 

18 Union Administration, the Secretary of the 

19 Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Com20 mission, and the Federal Trade Commission 

21 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘regulatory 

22 agencies’) shall—

23 ‘‘(i) prescribe such regulations con24 sistent with paragraph (2) as may be nec25 essary to carry out this subtitle with re-
12

•S 2481 IS 

1 spect to foreign outsourcing, with respect 

2 to the financial institutions subject to their 

3 jurisdiction under section 505; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) determine the appropriate pen5 alties to impose upon financial institutions 

6 for a violation of a provision of this sub7 section. 

8 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION, CONSISTENCY, AND

9 COMPARABILITY.—The regulatory agencies shall 

10 consult and coordinate with each other for the 

11 purposes of assuring, to the extent possible, 

12 that the regulations prescribed by each such 

13 agency are consistent and comparable with the 

14 regulations prescribed by the other such agen15 cies. 

16 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES AND DEADLINES.—The 

17 regulations described in subparagraph (A) shall 

18 be prescribed in accordance with all applicable 

19 legal requirements and shall be issued in final 

20 form not later than 365 days after the date of 

21 enactment of this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) NECESSARY REGULATIONS.—The regu23 latory agencies shall prescribe regulations—

24 ‘‘(A) requiring that a contract between a 

25 financial institution and such institution’s for-
13

•S 2481 IS 

1 eign-based business contain a provision that 

2 provides such institution with the right to audit 

3 such business, as needed, to monitor perform4 ance under the contract; and 

5 ‘‘(B) requiring that foreign-based busi6 nesses and subcontractors of financial institu7 tions be contractually bound by Federal privacy 

8 standards and security safeguards.’’. 

9 (d) BREACH OF SECURITY.—Section 502 of the 

10 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6802) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(f) BREACH OF SECURITY.—

13 ‘‘(1) BREACH OF SECURITY OF THE SYSTEM.—

14 In this subsection, the term ‘breach of security of 

15 the system’—

16 ‘‘(A) means the compromise of the secu17 rity, confidentiality, or integrity of computer18 ized data that results in, or there is a reason19 able basis to conclude has resulted in, the unau20 thorized acquisition of and access to nonpublic 

21 personal information maintained by the finan22 cial institution, foreign-based business, or sub23 contractor; and 

24 ‘‘(B) does not include good faith acquisi25 tion of nonpublic personal information by an 
14

•S 2481 IS 

1 employee or agent of the financial institution, 

2 foreign-based business, or subcontractor for the 

3 purposes of the institution, business, or subcon4 tractor, if the nonpublic personal information is 

5 not used or subject to further unauthorized dis6 closure. 

7 ‘‘(2) DATABASE SECURITY.—

8 ‘‘(A) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—A finan9 cial institution—

10 ‘‘(i) that owns or licenses electronic 

11 data containing nonpublic personal infor12 mation shall, following the discovery of a 

13 breach of security of the system containing 

14 such data, notify the entity under which 

15 the institution is subject to jurisdiction 

16 under section 505 of such breach; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) that receives a notification under 

18 subparagraph (B) of a breach, shall notify 

19 the entity under which the institution is 

20 subject to jurisdiction under section 505 of 

21 such breach. 

22 ‘‘(B) OTHER PARTIES.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal bank24 ing agencies, the National Credit Union 

25 Administration, the Secretary of the Treas-
15

•S 2481 IS 

1 ury, the Securities and Exchange Commis2 sion, and the Federal Trade Commission 

3 shall require, with respect to the financial 

4 institutions subject to their jurisdiction 

5 under section 505, that a contract between 

6 a financial institution and such institu7 tion’s foreign-based business contain a pro8 vision that if the foreign-based business (or 

9 any subcontractor of such business) owns 

10 or licenses electronic data containing non11 public personal information that was pro12 vided to the business through the financial 

13 institution, the business (or subcontractor) 

14 shall, following the discovery of a breach 

15 of security of the system containing such 

16 data—

17 ‘‘(I) notify the entity from which 

18 it received the nonpublic personal in19 formation of such breach; and 

20 ‘‘(II) provide a description to the 

21 entity from which it received the non22 public personal information of any 

23 corrective actions taken to guard 

24 against future security breaches. 
16

•S 2481 IS 

1 ‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION PROCESS.—Each 

2 entity that receives a notification under 

3 clause (i) shall notify the entity from which 

4 it received the nonpublic personal informa5 tion of such breach until the notification 

6 reaches the foreign-based business who 

7 shall, in turn, notify the financial institu8 tion of such breach. 

9 ‘‘(C) TIMELINESS OF NOTIFICATION.—All 

10 notifications required under subparagraphs (A) 

11 and (B) shall be made as expediently as pos12 sible and without unreasonable delay fol13 lowing—

14 ‘‘(i) the discovery of a breach of secu15 rity of the system; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any measures necessary to deter17 mine the scope of the breach, prevent fur18 ther disclosures, and restore the reasonable 

19 integrity of the data system. 

20 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

21 take effect on the expiration of the date that is 365 

22 days after the date of enactment of this sub23 section.’’. 
17

•S 2481 IS 

1 SEC. 4. FOREIGN CALL CENTERS. 

2 (a) FOREIGN CALL CENTER DEFINED.—In this sec3 tion, the term ‘‘foreign call center’’ means a foreign-based 

4 service provider or a foreign-based subcontractor of such 

5 provider that—

6 (1) is unaffiliated with the entity that utilizes 

7 such provider or subcontractor; and 

8 (2) provides customer-based service and sales or 

9 technical assistance and expertise to individuals lo10 cated in the United States via the telephone, the 

11 Internet, or other telecommunications and informa12 tion technology. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENT.—A contract between a foreign 

14 call center and an entity that utilizes such foreign call cen15 ter to initiate telephone calls to, or receive telephone calls 

16 from, individuals shall include a requirement that each 

17 employee of the foreign call center disclose the physical 

18 location of such employee upon the request of such indi19 vidual. 

20 (c) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—An entity de21 scribed in subsection (b) shall submit an annual certifi22 cation to the Federal Trade Commission on whether or 

23 not the entity and its subsidiaries, and the foreign call 

24 center employees and its subsidiaries, have complied with 

25 subsection (b). Such annual certifications shall be made 

26 available to the public. 
18

•S 2481 IS 

1 (d) NONCOMPLIANCE.—An entity described in sub2 section (b) or its subsidiaries that violates subsection (b) 

3 shall be subject to such civil penalties as the Federal 

4 Trade Commission prescribes under subsection (e). 

5 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 365 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Com7 mission shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary 

8 for effective monitoring and compliance with this section. 

9 Such regulations shall include appropriate civil penalties 

10 for noncompliance with this section.

Æ