[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3325 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3325

   To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote 
             responsible data use, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2023

    Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mrs. Fischer) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote 
             responsible data use, 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 ``Promoting Digital Privacy 
Technologies Act''.

SEC. 2. PROMOTING PRIVACY ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES.

    (a) Definition of Privacy Enhancing Technology.--In this section 
the term ``privacy enhancing technology'' means any software or 
hardware solution, technical processes, or other technological means of 
protecting an individual's privacy and the confidentiality of data, 
which may include--
            (1) de-identification, anonymization and pseudonymization 
        technologies or techniques, filtering tools, anti-tracking 
        technology, differential privacy tools, synthetic data 
        generation tools, cryptographic techniques (such as secure 
        multi-party computation and homomorphic encryption), and 
        systems for federated learning; and
            (2) any other software or hardware solution, technical 
        processes, or other technological means that the Director of 
        the National Science Foundation, in consultation with the 
        Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
        determines to be a technology that enhances privacy.
    (b) National Science Foundation Support of Research on Privacy 
Enhancing Technology.--The Director of the National Science Foundation, 
in consultation with other relevant Federal agencies (as determined by 
the Director), shall support merit-reviewed and competitively awarded 
research on privacy enhancing technologies, which may include--
            (1) fundamental research on technologies for de-
        identification, pseudonymization, anonymization, or obfuscation 
        to protect individuals' privacy in data sets;
            (2) fundamental research on algorithms, machine learning, 
        and other computational processes or tools used to protect 
        individual privacy when collecting, storing, sharing, 
        aggregating, or analyzing data;
            (3) fundamental research on technologies that promote data 
        minimization principles in data collection, sharing, transfers, 
        retention, and analytics;
            (4) research awards on privacy enhancing technologies 
        coordinated with other relevant Federal agencies and programs;
            (5) research on barriers to, and opportunities for, the 
        adoption of privacy enhancing technologies, including studies 
        on effective business models for privacy enhancing 
        technologies; and
            (6) international cooperative research, awards, challenges, 
        and pilot projects on privacy enhancing technologies with key 
        United States allies and partners.
    (c) Integration Into the Computer and Network Security Program.--
Subparagraph (D) of section 4(a)(1) of the Cyber Security Research and 
Development Act (15 U.S.C. 7403(a)(1)(D)) is amended to read as 
follows:
                    ``(D) privacy enhancing technologies and 
                confidentiality;''.
    (d) Coordination With the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology and Other Stakeholders.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Science and 
        Technology Policy, acting through the Networking and 
        Information Technology Research and Development Program, shall 
        coordinate with the Director of the National Science 
        Foundation, the Director of the National Institute of Standards 
        and Technology, and the Federal Trade Commission to accelerate 
        the development and use of privacy enhancing technologies.
            (2) Outreach.--The Director of the National Institute of 
        Standards and Technology shall conduct outreach to--
                    (A) receive input from private, public, and 
                academic stakeholders on the development and potential 
                uses of privacy enhancing technologies; and
                    (B) develop ongoing public and private sector 
                engagement to create and disseminate voluntary, 
                consensus-based resources to increase the integration 
                of privacy enhancing technologies in data collection, 
                sharing, transfers, retention, and analytics by the 
                public and private sectors.
    (e) Report on Privacy Enhancing Technology Research.--Not later 
than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 
the Office of Science and Technology Policy, acting through the 
Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program, 
shall, in coordination with the Director of the National Science 
Foundation, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, and the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, submit to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
of Representatives, a report containing--
            (1) the progress of research on privacy enhancing 
        technologies;
            (2) the progress of the development of voluntary resources 
        described under subsection (d)(2)(B); and
            (3) any policy recommendations that could facilitate and 
        improve communication and coordination among the private 
        sector, the National Science Foundation, and relevant Federal 
        agencies through the implementation of privacy enhancing 
        technologies.
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