[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 236 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 236

  To require reports to Congress on Federal agency use of data mining.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 10, 2007

   Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Akaka) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require reports to Congress on Federal agency use of data mining.

    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 ``Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting 
Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Data mining.--The term ``data mining'' means a query, 
        search, or other analysis of 1 or more electronic databases, 
        where--
                    (A) a department or agency of the Federal 
                Government, or a non-Federal entity acting on behalf of 
                the Federal Government, is conducting the query, 
                search, or other analysis to discover or locate a 
                predictive pattern or anomaly indicative of terrorist 
                or criminal activity on the part of any individual or 
                individuals; and
                    (B) the query, search, or other analysis does not 
                use personal identifiers of a specific individual, or 
                inputs associated with a specific individual or group 
                of individuals, to retrieve information from the 
                database or databases.
            (2) Database.--The term ``database'' does not include 
        telephone directories, news reporting, information publicly 
        available to any member of the public without payment of a fee, 
        or databases of judicial and administrative opinions.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON DATA MINING ACTIVITIES BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) Requirement for Report.--The head of each department or agency 
of the Federal Government that is engaged in any activity to use or 
develop data mining shall submit a report to Congress on all such 
activities of the department or agency under the jurisdiction of that 
official. The report shall be made available to the public, except for 
a classified annex described in subsection (b)(8).
    (b) Content of Report.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) 
shall include, for each activity to use or develop data mining, the 
following information:
            (1) A thorough description of the data mining activity, its 
        goals, and, where appropriate, the target dates for the 
        deployment of the data mining activity.
            (2) A thorough description of the data mining technology 
        that is being used or will be used, including the basis for 
        determining whether a particular pattern or anomaly is 
        indicative of terrorist or criminal activity.
            (3) A thorough description of the data sources that are 
        being or will be used.
            (4) An assessment of the efficacy or likely efficacy of the 
        data mining activity in providing accurate information 
        consistent with and valuable to the stated goals and plans for 
        the use or development of the data mining activity.
            (5) An assessment of the impact or likely impact of the 
        implementation of the data mining activity on the privacy and 
        civil liberties of individuals, including a thorough 
        description of the actions that are being taken or will be 
        taken with regard to the property, privacy, or other rights or 
        privileges of any individual or individuals as a result of the 
        implementation of the data mining activity.
            (6) A list and analysis of the laws and regulations that 
        govern the information being or to be collected, reviewed, 
        gathered, analyzed, or used with the data mining activity.
            (7) A thorough discussion of the policies, procedures, and 
        guidelines that are in place or that are to be developed and 
        applied in the use of such technology for data mining in order 
        to--
                    (A) protect the privacy and due process rights of 
                individuals, such as redress procedures; and
                    (B) ensure that only accurate information is 
                collected, reviewed, gathered, analyzed, or used.
            (8) Any necessary classified information in an annex that 
        shall be available, as appropriate, to the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 
        the Judiciary, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the 
        Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 
        Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee 
        on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
    (c) Time for Report.--Each report required under subsection (a) 
shall be--
            (1) submitted not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act; and
            (2) updated not less frequently than annually thereafter, 
        to include any activity to use or develop data mining engaged 
        in after the date of the prior report submitted under 
        subsection (a).
                                 <all>