[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4965 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4965

To regulate the posting of personal information of government officials 
                on the internet, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 3, 2020

 Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. McConnell, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Boozman, 
  Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To regulate the posting of personal information of government officials 
                on the internet, 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 ``Public Servant Protection Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

    (a) Criminal Provision.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 88 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Government official.--The term `government official' 
        means--
                    ``(A) any officer or employee described in section 
                1114; and
                    ``(B) any officer or employee of a State, a 
                political subdivision of a State, or a Tribal 
                government.
            ``(2) Immediate family member.--The term `immediate family 
        member' has the meaning given the term in section 115.
            ``(3) Personal information.--The term `personal 
        information' means--
                    ``(A) a home address; or
                    ``(B) a home phone number.
            ``(4) State.--The term `State' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 
        possession of the United States.
            ``(5) Tribal government.--The term `Tribal government' has 
        the meaning given the term `Indian tribal government' in 
        section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
        Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
    ``(b) Prohibition.--It shall be unlawful for any person to publicly 
display on the internet the personal information of a government 
official or an immediate family member of a government official with 
the intent to cause bodily harm or other injury to an individual.
    ``(c) Penalty.--A person who violates subsection (b)--
            ``(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not 
        more than 1 year, or both; and
            ``(2) if bodily injury or death results from the violation, 
        shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for any term of 
        years or life, or both.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
        88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
        end the following:

``1802. Privacy of personal information of government officials.''.
    (b) Civil Provision.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) Government official; personal information.--The 
                terms ``government official'' and ``personal 
                information'' have the meanings given those terms in 
                section 1802 of title 18, United States Code, as added 
                by subsection (a).
                    (B) Immediate family member.--The term ``immediate 
                family member'' has the meaning given the term in 
                section 115 of title 18, United States Code.
                    (C) Interactive computer service.--The term 
                ``interactive computer service'' has the meaning given 
                the term in section 230 of the Communications Act of 
                1934 (47 U.S.C. 230).
            (2) Written demand to persons.--
                    (A) In general.--A government official may 
                directly, or through an agent designated by the 
                government official, make a written demand to a person 
                to refrain from publicly displaying on the internet the 
                personal information of the government official or an 
                immediate family member of the government official.
                    (B) Effect of written demand.--If a government 
                official makes a written demand to a person under 
                subparagraph (A), the person--
                            (i) shall, not later than 48 hours after 
                        the receipt of the written demand, remove any 
                        personal information of the government official 
                        or an immediate family member of the government 
                        official displayed on the internet by the 
                        person; and
                            (ii) during the 4-year period following the 
                        date of the receipt of the written demand, may 
                        not publicly display on the internet the 
                        personal information of the government official 
                        or an immediate family member of the government 
                        official.
            (3) Written demand to interactive computer service 
        providers.--
                    (A) In general.--A government official may 
                directly, or through an agent designated by the 
                government official, make a written demand to the 
                provider of an interactive computer service to remove 
                the personal information of the government official or 
                an immediate family member of the government official 
                that is publicly displayed on the interactive computer 
                service.
                    (B) Effect of written demand.--If a government 
                official makes a written demand to the provider of an 
                interactive computer service under subparagraph (A), 
                the provider shall, not later than 48 hours after the 
                receipt of the written demand, remove from the 
                interactive computer service any personal information 
                of the government official or an immediate family 
                member of the government official that is publicly 
                displayed on the interactive computer service.
            (4) Cause of action.--
                    (A) In general.--A government official who is 
                aggrieved by a violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B) 
                may bring a civil action against the person or the 
                provider of an interactive computer service, 
                respectively, that violated that paragraph in an 
                appropriate district court of the United States.
                    (B) Relief.--In an action under subparagraph (A), 
                the court may award--
                            (i) injunctive relief;
                            (ii) if injury or damage results from the 
                        violation of paragraph (2)(B) or (3)(B), the 
                        greater of--
                                    (I) actual damages; or
                                    (II) $1,000; and
                            (iii) reasonable costs and attorney's fees.
                                 <all>