I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6478 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal and civil remedies 
for publication of personally identifiable information with the intent to 
do harm. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 8, 2016 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal 
and civil remedies for publication of personally identifi-
able information with the intent to do harm. 
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 ‘‘Interstate Doxxing 
Prevention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH 
THE INTENT TO CAUSE HARM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 41 of title 18, United 
State Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘§ 881. Publication of personally identifiable informa-
tion with the intent to cause harm 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Whoever, with the intent to 
threaten, intimidate, harass, stalk, or facilitate another to 
threaten, intimidate, harass, or stalk, uses the mail or any 
facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce to 
knowingly publish the personally identifiable information 
of another person, and as a result of that publication 
places that person in reasonable fear of the death of or 
serious bodily injury to— 
‘‘(1) that person; 
‘‘(2) an immediate family member of that per-
son; or 
‘‘(3) an intimate partner of that person, 
shall be subject to the criminal penalty and the civil liabil-
ity provided by this section. 
‘‘(b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever violates subsection 
(a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not 
more than 5 years, or both. 
‘‘(2) REIMBURSEMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The court, in impos-
ing a sentence on a defendant convicted of an 
offense under this section, shall order the de-
fendant to reimburse any party for expenses ne-
cessitated by such offense. 
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‘‘(B) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—A 
person ordered to make reimbursement under 
this subsection shall be jointly and severally lia-
ble for such expenses with each other person, if 
any, who is ordered to make reimbursement 
under this subsection for the same expenses. 
‘‘(C) CIVIL JUDGMENT.—An order of reim-
bursement under this subsection shall, for the 
purposes of enforcement, be treated as a civil 
judgment. 
‘‘(c) CIVIL ACTION.—An individual who is a victim 
of an offense under this section may bring a civil action 
against the perpetrator (or whoever knowingly benefits, fi-
nancially or by receiving anything of value from participa-
tion in a venture which that person knew or should have 
known has engaged in an act in violation of this section) 
and may recover money damages and any other appro-
priate relief, including reasonable attorney’s fees. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) PUBLISH.—The term ‘publish’ means to 
circulate, deliver, distribute, disseminate, transmit, 
or otherwise make available to another person. 
‘‘(2) PERSONALLY
IDENTIFIABLE
INFORMA-
TION.—The term ‘personally identifiable informa-
tion’ means— 
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‘‘(A) any information that can be used to 
distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, 
such as name, prior legal name, alias, mother’s 
maiden name, social security number, date or 
place of birth, address, phone number, or bio-
metric data; 
‘‘(B) any information that is linked or 
linkable to an individual, such as medical, fi-
nancial, education, consumer, or employment 
information, data, or records; or 
‘‘(C) any other sensitive private informa-
tion that is linked or linkable to a specific iden-
tifiable individual, such as gender identity, sex-
ual orientation, or any sexually explicit visual 
depiction of a person described in clause (1), 
(2), or (3) of subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term 
‘immediate family member’ means— 
‘‘(A) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, or 
child of the subject of the publication or a per-
son to whom the subject of the publication 
stands in loco parentis; or 
‘‘(B) any other person living in the subject 
of the publication’s household and related to the 
subject of the publication by blood or marriage. 
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‘‘(4) INTIMATE PARTNER.—The term ‘intimate 
partner’ means a person who is or has been in a so-
cial relationship of a romantic or intimate nature 
with the subject of the publication, as determined by 
the length of the relationship, the type of relation-
ship, and the frequency of interaction between the 
persons involved in the relationship. 
‘‘(5) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT VISUAL DEPICTION.— 
The term ‘sexually explicit visual depiction’ means 
any photograph, film, video, or other recording or 
live transmission of a person, whether produced by 
electronic, mechanical, or other means (including de-
pictions that are not stored in a permanent format), 
that depicts— 
‘‘(A) the lascivious exhibition of the anus, 
the post-pubescent female nipple, the genitals, 
or the pubic area of any person; 
‘‘(B) any actual or simulated sexual con-
tact or sexual act; 
‘‘(C) bestiality; or 
‘‘(D) sadistic or masochistic conduct. 
‘‘(e) ATTEMPT
AND
CONSPIRACY.—Whoever at-
tempts or conspires to violate this section shall be punish-
able in the same manner as a completed violation of this 
section. 
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‘‘(f) ACTIVITIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.—This sec-
tion does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investiga-
tive, protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforce-
ment agency of the United States, a State, or political sub-
division of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the 
United States.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 41 title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘881. Publication of personally identifiable information with the intent to cause 
harm.’’. 
Æ 
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