‘‘(B) general damages sustained by the in-
dividual as a result of the refusal or failure, but
in no case shall a person entitled to recovery re-
ceive less than the sum of $2,000, nor more
than the sum of $20,000 as general damages;
and’’.
SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY
PROTECTION BOARD.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT; MEMBERSHIP; BUDGETARY
AND LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) There is es-
tablished an Individual Privacy Protection Board (herein-
after referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) which shall be composed
of five members appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate. Members of the
Board shall be chosen on the basis of their experience,
integrity, impartiality, and good judgment from among in-
dividuals who, at the time of their appointment, are not
elected or appointed officers or employees in the executive,
legislative, or judicial branch of the Government.
(2) Each member of the Board shall hold office for
a term of four years, except that a member may continue
to serve until a successor has taken office. Any vacancy
in the membership of the Board, as long as there are four
members in office, shall not impair the power of the Board
but shall be filled in the same manner in which the original
appointment was made. No member shall be eligible to
serve for more than two complete terms of office on the
Board.
(3) The members of the Board shall elect a Chairman
from among themselves. A quorum of the Board shall con-
sist of a majority of the members, except that the Board
may establish a lower number as a quorum for the purpose
of taking testimony. The Board is authorized to establish
such committees and delegate such authority to them as
may be necessary to carry out its functions. Each member
of the Board, including the Chairman, shall have equal
responsibility and authority in all decisions and actions of
the Board, shall have full access to all information nec-
essary to the performance of their functions, and shall
have one vote. Action of the Board shall be determined
by a majority vote of the members present. The Chairman
(or a member designated by the Chairman to be acting
Chairman) shall be the official spokesman of the Board
in its relations with the Congress, Government agencies,
other persons, and the public, and, on behalf of the Board,
shall see to the faithful execution of the administrative
policies and decisions of the Board, and shall report there-
on to the Board from time to time or as the Board may
direct.
(4)(A) Whenever the Board submits any budget esti-
mate or request to the President or the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, it shall concurrently transmit a copy
of that request to the Congress.
(B) Whenever the Board submits any legislative rec-
ommendations, or testimony, or comments on legislation
to the President or Office of Management and Budget,
it shall concurrently transmit a copy thereof to the Con-
gress. No officer or agency of the United States shall have
any authority to require the Board to submit its legislative
recommendations, or testimony, or comments on legisla-
tion, to any officer or agency of the United States for ap-
proval, comments, or review, prior to the submission of
such recommendations, testimony, or comments to the
Congress.
(b) DUTIES OF BOARD.—The Board shall—
(1) make a study of the data banks, automated
data processing programs, information systems, and
other telecommunications and data processing tech-
nologies and services of governmental, regional, and
private organizations, in order to determine the
standards and procedures in force for the protection
of personal information;
(2) recommend to the President and the Con-
gress the extent, if any, to which the requirements
and principles of section 552a of title 5, United
States Code, should be applied to the information
practices of those organizations by legislation, ad-
ministrative action, or voluntary adoption of such re-
quirements and principles, and report on such other
legislative recommendations as it may determine to
be necessary to protect the privacy of individuals
while meeting the legitimate needs of government
and society for information;
(3) develop guidelines and model regulations for
the use of Federal agencies in implementing the pro-
visions of section 552a of title 5, United States
Code;
(4) provide continuing assistance to Federal
agencies in implementing section 552a of title 5,
United States Code;
(5) publish on a regular basis a guide to the
use of section 552a of title 5, United States Code,
and a compilation of agency system of records no-
tices, together with an index (or other finding aids);
(6) investigate compliance with section 552a of
title 5, United States Code, and report on any viola-
tion of any provision thereof (or of any regulation
promulgated under such section) to the President,
the Attorney General, and the Congress;
(7) file comments on any proposal (A) to amend
section 552a of title 5, United States Code, or any
regulation promulgated under such section, (B) to
create or modify a system of records, or (C) to es-
tablish or alter routine uses of such a system;
(8) review Federal law, Executive orders, regu-
lations, directives, and judicial decisions and report
on the extent to which they are consistent with the
rights of privacy, due process of law, and other
guarantees in the Constitution; and
(9) comment on the implications for data pro-
tection of proposed Federal, State, or local statutes,
regulations, or procedures.
(c) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH.—(1) In
the course of conducting the study required under sub-
section (b)(1) of this section, and in its reports thereon,
the Board may research, examine, and analyze—
(A) interstate transfer of information about in-
dividuals that is undertaken through manual files or
by computer or other electronic or telecommuni-
cations means;
(B) data banks and information programs and
systems the operation of which significantly or sub-
stantially affect the enjoyment of the privacy and
other personal and property rights of individuals;
(C) the use of social security numbers, license
plate numbers, universal identifiers, and other sym-
bols to identify individuals in data banks and to gain
access to, integrate, or centralize information sys-
tems and files; and
(D) the matching and analysis of statistical
data, such as Federal census data, with other
sources of personal data, such as automobile reg-
istries and telephone directories, in order to recon-
struct individual responses to statistical question-
naires for commercial or other purposes, in a way
which results in a violation of the implied or explic-
itly recognized confidentiality of such information.
(2)(A) The Board may include in its examination per-
sonal information activities in the following areas: medical;
insurance; education; employment and personnel; credit,
banking and financial institutions; credit bureaus; the
commercial reporting industry; cable television and other
telecommunications media; travel, hotel, and entertain-
ment reservations; and electronic check processing.
(B) The Board shall include in its examination a
study of—
(i) whether a person engaged in interstate com-
merce who maintains a mailing list should be re-