[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 188 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 188
To impose a moratorium on the implementation of data-mining under the
Total Information Awareness program of the Department of Defense and
any similar program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 16, 2003
Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Nelson of
Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To impose a moratorium on the implementation of data-mining under the
Total Information Awareness program of the Department of Defense and
any similar program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Data-Mining Moratorium Act of
2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Use of advanced technology is an essential tool in the
fight against terrorism.
(2) There has been no demonstration that data-mining by a
government, including data-mining such as that which is to
occur under the Total Information Awareness program, is an
effective tool for preventing terrorism.
(3) Data-mining under the Total Information Awareness
program or a similar program would provide the Federal
Government with access to extensive files of private as well as
public information on an individual.
(4) There are significant concerns regarding the extent to
which privacy rights of individuals would be adversely affected
by data-mining carried out by their government.
(5) Congress has not reviewed any guidelines, rules, or
laws concerning implementation and use of data-mining by
Federal Government agencies.
SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS
PROGRAM FOR DATA MINING.
(a) Moratorium.--During the period described in subsection (b), no
officer or employee of the Department of Defense or the Department of
Homeland Security may take any action to implement or carry out for
data-mining purposes any part of (including any research or development
under)--
(1) the Department of Defense component of the Total
Information Awareness program or any other data-mining program
of the Department of Defense; or
(2) any data-mining program of the Department of Homeland
Security that is similar or related to the Total Information
Awareness program.
(b) Moratorium Period.--The period referred to in subsection (a)
for a department of the Federal Government is the period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the date (after the
date of the enactment of this Act) on which there is enacted a law
specifically authorizing data-mining by such department.
SEC. 4. REPORTS ON DATA-MINING ACTIVITIES.
(a) Requirement for Report.--The Secretary of Defense, the Attorney
General, and the head of each other department or agency of the Federal
Government that is engaged in any activity to use or develop data-
mining technology shall each submit to Congress a report on all such
activities of the department or agency under the jurisdiction of that
official.
(b) Content of report.--A report submitted under subsection (a)
shall include, for each activity to use or develop data-mining
technology that is required to be covered by the report, the following
information:
(1) A thorough description of the activity.
(2) A thorough discussion of the plans for the use of such
technology.
(3) A thorough discussion of the policies, procedures, and
guidelines that are to be applied in the use of such technology
for data-mining in order to--
(A) protect the privacy rights of individuals; and
(B) ensure that only accurate information is
collected.
(c) Time for Report.--Each report required under subsection (a)
shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF PROVISIONS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preclude the Department
of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security from conducting--
(1) computer searches of public information; or
(2) computer searches that are based on a particularized
suspicion of an individual.
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