Title: Kelsey Smith Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Kelsey Smith Act
This bill requires a mobile or internet voice service provider to disclose, at the request of an investigative or law enforcement officer (or public safety employee or agent on behalf of such officer), the location information of a device if the officer asserts (1) that the device was used to place a 911 call, or (2) reasonable suspicion that the device is in the possession of an individual who is in an emergency situation.
The bill prohibits a civil action or administrative proceeding against a telecommunications carrier that discloses call location information in accordance with this bill.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1818 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1818

   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of a 
    covered service to provide location information concerning the 
telecommunications device of a user of such service to an investigative 
 or law enforcement officer or an employee or other agent of a public 
  safety answering point in an emergency situation involving risk of 
  death or serious physical harm or in order to respond to the user's 
                      call for emergency services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2019

    Mr. Estes (for himself and Ms. Davids of Kansas) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of a 
    covered service to provide location information concerning the 
telecommunications device of a user of such service to an investigative 
 or law enforcement officer or an employee or other agent of a public 
  safety answering point in an emergency situation involving risk of 
  death or serious physical harm or in order to respond to the user's 
                      call for emergency services.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Kelsey Smith Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRED EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE OF LOCATION INFORMATION TO LAW 
              ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT.

    Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (4), by redesignating 
                subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), 
                and (iii), respectively, and adjusting the margins 
                accordingly;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as 
                subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively, and 
                adjusting the margins accordingly;
                    (C) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as so 
                redesignated, by striking ``Nothing in this section'' 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Permitted disclosures.--Nothing in this section''; 
        and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Required emergency disclosure of location information 
        to law enforcement or public safety answering point.--
                    ``(A) Location information requests.--
                Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c), at the 
                request of an investigative or law enforcement officer 
                or an employee or other agent of a public safety 
                answering point acting on behalf of such an officer, 
                who is acting in the course of the official duties of 
                the officer or agent, a provider of a covered service 
                shall provide to the officer or agent the available 
                location information of a telecommunications device 
                without delay if the officer or agent asserts--
                            ``(i) that the device was used to place a 
                        9-1-1 call requesting emergency assistance 
                        during the preceding 48-hour period; or
                            ``(ii) reasonable suspicion that the device 
                        is in the possession of an individual who is 
                        involved in an emergency situation that 
                        involves the risk of death or serious physical 
                        harm.
                    ``(B) Records of disclosed records.--If an 
                investigative or law enforcement officer, or an 
                employee or other agent of a public safety answering 
                point acting on behalf of such an officer, submits a 
                request for location information to a provider of a 
                covered service under subparagraph (A), the 
                investigative or law enforcement agency employing the 
                officer shall maintain a record of the request that 
                includes each of the following:
                            ``(i) The name of the officer or agent 
                        making the request (and, in the case of a 
                        request made by an agent, the name of the 
                        officer on whose behalf the agent is acting).
                            ``(ii) A description of the request that 
                        explains the need for disclosure of location 
                        information.
                            ``(iii) A declaration that disclosure of 
                        location information is needed based on the 
                        conditions described in clause (i) or (ii) of 
                        subparagraph (A).
                    ``(C) Hold harmless.--No cause of action shall lie 
                in any court, nor shall any civil or administrative 
                proceeding be commenced by any person or entity, 
                against a provider of a covered service, or its 
                directors, officers, employees, agents, or vendors, for 
                providing location information or assistance in 
                accordance with subparagraph (A) and any regulations 
                promulgated under this paragraph.
                    ``(D) Relationship to state law.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Nothing in this section 
                        exempts a telecommunications carrier or a 
                        provider of a covered service from complying, 
                        in a circumstance described in clause (ii), 
                        with any applicable State law that requires the 
                        carrier or provider to provide location 
                        information of a telecommunications device to 
                        an investigative or law enforcement officer or 
                        an employee or other agent of a public safety 
                        answering point acting on behalf of such an 
                        officer in response to a request by the officer 
                        or agent.
                            ``(ii) Applicability.--A circumstance 
                        described in this clause is a circumstance in 
                        which the officer or agent--
                                    ``(I) makes the request while 
                                acting in the course of the official 
                                duties of the officer or agent; and
                                    ``(II) asserts that the request is 
                                made for the purpose of responding to--
                                            ``(aa) a call for emergency 
                                        services; or
                                            ``(bb) an emergency 
                                        situation that involves the 
                                        risk of death or serious 
                                        physical harm.'';
            (2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``subsection (d)(4)'' 
        and inserting ``subsection (d)(1)(D)''; and
            (3) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Covered service.--The term `covered service' means--
                    ``(A) a commercial mobile service (as defined in 
                section 332(d)); or
                    ``(B) an IP-enabled voice service (as defined in 
                section 7 of the Wireless Communications and Public 
                Safety Act of 1999 (47 U.S.C. 615b)).
            ``(9) Investigative or law enforcement officer.--The term 
        `investigative or law enforcement officer' has the meaning 
        given the term `Investigative or law enforcement officer' in 
        section 2510 of title 18, United States Code.''.
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