Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 847) to support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 847, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 847, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act.

The 21st century has ushered in the era of hyper-internet utilization, the gig economy of nearly everything.

Americans are online. Practically any digital action that internet users take--from social media to shopping online to browsing news or using email--creates data that is stored by companies or organizations. More and more data about each of us is being generated faster and faster each day. In fact, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated nearly every day. Ninety percent of the world's data was created in just the last 2 years alone.

Companies can use, share, or sell data they collect since most of the data economy is invisible--Americans are not able to see this constant flow of their information, but the more modern digital economy is fueled by personal data.

Unfortunately, there are few processes that can enable the productive use of personal data while also protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the people to whom that data is linked.

A 2019 survey by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration found that 73 percent of U.S. households have significant concerns about online privacy and security risks. I hear it from my own constituents all throughout Oakland County, Michigan.

There are tremendous opportunities to capture the benefits of data, including for safer roads, improved public health, and better educational outcomes. However, in any use of personal data, we have the ability and the necessity to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Form and function, my friends. One key way to achieve that is through the development of the privacy-enhancing technologies, or PETs.

PETs are a broad range of technologies that allow organizations to collect, share, and use data while mitigating the privacy risks that arise from those activities. The goal is to make these systems that use personal information private by default, opening up those data to a wide range of researchers who would otherwise not have access.

These technologies have the potential to enable broader use of Federal data sets, as privacy risks are often the greatest barrier to open government data efforts. We recognize the untapped potential and opportunity for the United States of America to lead here. The technology itself for PETs is still immature and not necessarily ready for widespread use.

My bill, H.R. 847, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act, supports research, workforce development, standard setting, and government coordination for PETs.

H.R. 847 directs the National Science Foundation to conduct fundamental privacy research that can help improve these technologies, assess their limitations, and broaden their applicability. This bill also directs the National Science Foundation to support workforce development activities in order to help address the growing shortage of privacy professionals across the United States of America.

H.R. 847 also supports activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to facilitate the development of standards and best practices for integration of PETs in the public and private sectors. This is the best of government in action, my friends.

Finally, H.R. 847 directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate Federal activities to accelerate the development of PETs across government.

Congress has been debating different proposals for privacy legislation, as we know, for many, many years. I remain hopeful and optimistic that we will get something done. In the meantime, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act will help ensure that we have the necessary tools to fully implement privacy legislation without stifling innovation. It is high time that we research ways in which privacy-enhancing technologies can be utilized to protect Americans' most sensitive and personal data.

I also thank my colleagues--this has been a bipartisan effort-- Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, as well as Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Senator Deb Fischer, for working with me to develop this legislation last year. I also thank our stakeholders whose feedback helped strengthen this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 847, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague in encouraging Members of this legislative body to support H.R. 847. I recognize that privacy- enhancing technologies are an innovation opportunity for the United States of America. The role that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will play with this legislation will convene industry stakeholders and nonprofit groups to a standard set, which is certainly welcome by many, and will also ensure us the ability to continue to succeed and compete in years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 847, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act. This legislation supports research activities to advance innovative technologies to safeguard individuals' privacy.

As Americans have moved more and more of their lives online, especially during the pandemic, it has also resulted in more digital consumer data and personal information being generated than ever before.

This personal information has long been a target for cybercriminals, and it has only worsened over the pandemic. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identify theft increased by almost 3,000 percent over the past year. This problem is exacerbated by the failure of some companies to properly safeguard consumer data.

This data is a valuable asset. In 2017 ``The Economist'' claimed data is now the world's most valuable resource. When safely utilized, it can do a great deal to spur our economy and support innovations like artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our task is to ensure this resource doesn't fall into the hands of bad actors, putting Americans' private information at risk.

Privacy Enhancing Technologies, PETs, may be part of the solution. PETs utilize cryptography and statistics to minimize the amount of personally identifiable information while ensuring the data sets are still usable. However, more research is needed to understand PETs' applicability and to encourage further development and adoption.

This bill requires the National Science Foundation to support fundamental research into PETs, the mathematics that is the foundation of PETs, and additional technologies that promote data minimization principles. The legislation also directs NIST to work with stakeholders to develop voluntary consensus standards for incorporating these technologies into Federal and commercial applications.

I thank Chairwoman Stevens and Representative Gonzalez for leading this very important legislation. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, while the data revolution offers an opportunity to solve many of the world's grand challenges, we must also ensure these innovations don't put Americans' private information at risk. By supporting further research on privacy-enhancing technologies through this legislation, we are taking important steps to strengthen consumer privacy while enabling the use of consumer data.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.