[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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