[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6478 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6478

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal and civil 
 remedies for publication of personally identifiable information with 
                         the intent to do harm.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2016

  Ms. Clark of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal and civil 
 remedies for publication of personally identifiable information with 
                         the intent to do harm.

    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 ``Interstate Doxxing Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH THE INTENT TO CAUSE 
              HARM.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 41 of title 18, United State Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 881. Publication of personally identifiable information with the 
              intent to cause harm
    ``(a) Prohibition.--Whoever, with the intent to threaten, 
intimidate, harass, stalk, or facilitate another to threaten, 
intimidate, harass, or stalk, uses the mail or any facility or means of 
interstate or foreign commerce to knowingly publish the personally 
identifiable information of another person, and as a result of that 
publication places that person in reasonable fear of the death of or 
serious bodily injury to--
            ``(1) that person;
            ``(2) an immediate family member of that person; or
            ``(3) an intimate partner of that person,
shall be subject to the criminal penalty and the civil liability 
provided by this section.
    ``(b) Criminal Penalty.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whoever violates subsection (a) shall be 
        fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 
        both.
            ``(2) Reimbursement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The court, in imposing a 
                sentence on a defendant convicted of an offense under 
                this section, shall order the defendant to reimburse 
                any party for expenses necessitated by such offense.
                    ``(B) Joint and several liability.--A person 
                ordered to make reimbursement under this subsection 
                shall be jointly and severally liable for such expenses 
                with each other person, if any, who is ordered to make 
                reimbursement under this subsection for the same 
                expenses.
                    ``(C) Civil judgment.--An order of reimbursement 
                under this subsection shall, for the purposes of 
                enforcement, be treated as a civil judgment.
    ``(c) Civil Action.--An individual who is a victim of an offense 
under this section may bring a civil action against the perpetrator (or 
whoever knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything of 
value from participation in a venture which that person knew or should 
have known has engaged in an act in violation of this section) and may 
recover money damages and any other appropriate relief, including 
reasonable attorney's fees.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Publish.--The term `publish' means to circulate, 
        deliver, distribute, disseminate, transmit, or otherwise make 
        available to another person.
            ``(2) Personally identifiable information.--The term 
        `personally identifiable information' means--
                    ``(A) any information that can be used to 
                distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as 
                name, prior legal name, alias, mother's maiden name, 
                social security number, date or place of birth, 
                address, phone number, or biometric data;
                    ``(B) any information that is linked or linkable to 
                an individual, such as medical, financial, education, 
                consumer, or employment information, data, or records; 
                or
                    ``(C) any other sensitive private information that 
                is linked or linkable to a specific identifiable 
                individual, such as gender identity, sexual 
                orientation, or any sexually explicit visual depiction 
                of a person described in clause (1), (2), or (3) of 
                subsection (a).
            ``(3) Immediate family member.--The term `immediate family 
        member' means--
                    ``(A) the spouse, parent, brother, sister, or child 
                of the subject of the publication or a person to whom 
                the subject of the publication stands in loco parentis; 
                or
                    ``(B) any other person living in the subject of the 
                publication's household and related to the subject of 
                the publication by blood or marriage.
            ``(4) Intimate partner.--The term `intimate partner' means 
        a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a 
        romantic or intimate nature with the subject of the 
        publication, as determined by the length of the relationship, 
        the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction 
        between the persons involved in the relationship.
            ``(5) Sexually explicit visual depiction.--The term 
        `sexually explicit visual depiction' means any photograph, 
        film, video, or other recording or live transmission of a 
        person, whether produced by electronic, mechanical, or other 
        means (including depictions that are not stored in a permanent 
        format), that depicts--
                    ``(A) the lascivious exhibition of the anus, the 
                post-pubescent female nipple, the genitals, or the 
                pubic area of any person;
                    ``(B) any actual or simulated sexual contact or 
                sexual act;
                    ``(C) bestiality; or
                    ``(D) sadistic or masochistic conduct.
    ``(e) Attempt and Conspiracy.--Whoever attempts or conspires to 
violate this section shall be punishable in the same manner as a 
completed violation of this section.
    ``(f) Activities of Law Enforcement.--This section does not 
prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or 
intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, 
a State, or political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence 
agency of the United States.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 41 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:

``881. Publication of personally identifiable information with the 
                            intent to cause harm.''.
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