[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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