IB
Union Calendar No. 553
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4049
[Report No. 106–919]
To establish the Commission for the Comprehensive Study of Privacy
Protection.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 21, 2000
Mr. HUTCHINSON (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. GRANGER, Mr.
BRADY of Texas, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr.
SUNUNU, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. COBURN, Mr. DICKEY, Mr.
KLECZKA, Mr. PITTS, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. RILEY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr.
LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mrs. KELLY, Mr.
DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
Additional sponsors: Mr. TURNER, Mr. WEINER, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin,
Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. BILBRAY, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. THUNE, Mr.
ENGLISH, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. MURTHA, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. ISAKSON,
Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. REYNOLDS, and Mr.
CUNNINGHAM
SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 21, 2000]
A BILL
To establish the Commission for the Comprehensive Study
of Privacy Protection.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Privacy Commission
Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Americans are increasingly concerned about
their civil liberties and the security and use of their
personal information, including medical records, edu-
cational records, library records, magazine subscrip-
tion records, records of purchases of goods and other
payments, and driver’s license numbers.
(2) Commercial entities are increasingly aware
that consumers expect them to adopt privacy policies
and take all appropriate steps to protect the personal
information of consumers.
(3) There is a growing concern about the con-
fidentiality of medical records, because there are inad-
equate Federal guidelines and a patchwork of con-
fusing State and local rules regarding privacy protec-
tion for individually identifiable patient information.
(4) In light of recent changes in financial serv-
ices laws allowing for increased sharing of informa-
tion between traditional financial institutions and
insurance entities, a coordinated and comprehensive
review is necessary regarding the protections of per-
sonal data compiled by the health care, insurance,
and financial services industries.
(5) The use of Social Security numbers has ex-
panded beyond the uses originally intended.
(6) Use of the Internet has increased at astound-
ing rates, with approximately 5 million current
Internet sites and 64 million regular Internet users
each month in the United States alone.
(7) Financial transactions over the Internet have
increased at an astounding rate, with 17 million
American households spending $20 billion shopping
on the Internet last year.
(8) Use of the Internet as a medium for commer-
cial activities will continue to grow, and it is esti-
mated that by the end of 2000, 56 percent of the com-
panies in the United States will sell their products on
the Internet.
(9) There have been reports of surreptitious col-
lection of consumer data by Internet marketers and
questionable distribution of personal information by
on-line companies.
(10) In 1999, the Federal Trade Commission
found that 87 percent of Internet sites provided some
form of privacy notice, which represented an increase
from 15 percent in 1998.
(11) The United States is the leading economic
and social force in the global information economy,
largely because of a favorable regulatory climate and
the free flow of information. It is important for the
United States to continue that leadership. As nations
and governing bodies around the world begin to estab-
lish privacy standards, these standards will directly
affect the United States.
(12) The shift from an industry-focused economy
to an information-focused economy calls for a reas-
sessment of the most effective way to balance personal
privacy and information use, keeping in mind the po-
tential for unintended effects on technology develop-
ment, innovation, the marketplace, and privacy
needs.
(13) This Act shall not be construed to prohibit
the enactment of legislation on privacy issues by the
Congress during the existence of the Commission. It is
the responsibility of the Congress to act to protect the
privacy of individuals, including individuals’ medical
and financial information. Various committees of the
Congress are currently reviewing legislation in the
area of medical and financial privacy. Further study
by the Commission established by this Act should not
be considered a prerequisite for further consideration
or enactment of financial or medical privacy legisla-
tion by the Congress.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established a commission to be known as the
‘‘Commission for the Comprehensive Study of Privacy Pro-
tection’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.
(a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study
of issues relating to protection of individual privacy and
the appropriate balance to be achieved between protecting
individual privacy and allowing appropriate uses of infor-
mation, including the following:
(1) The monitoring, collection, and distribution
of personal information by Federal, State, and local
governments, including personal information collected
for a decennial census, and such personal information
as a driver’s license number.
(2) Current efforts to address the monitoring,
collection, and distribution of personal information
by Federal and State governments, individuals, or en-
tities, including—
(A) existing statutes and regulations relat-
ing to the protection of individual privacy, such
as section 552a of title 5, United States Code
(commonly referred to as the Privacy Act of
1974) and section 552 of title 5, United States
Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of
Information Act);
(B) legislation pending before the Congress;
(C) privacy protection efforts undertaken by
the Federal Government, State governments, for-
eign governments, and international governing
bodies;
(D) privacy protection efforts undertaken by
the private sector; and
(E) self-regulatory efforts initiated by the
private sector to respond to privacy issues.
(3) The monitoring, collection, and distribution
of personal information by individuals or entities, in-
cluding access to and use of medical records, financial
records (including credit cards, automated teller ma-
chine cards, bank accounts, and Internet trans-