Provides that nothing in this law shall be construed to prohibit the use of social security numbers: (1) required or permitted under certain Federal laws; (2) for retrieving information about an individual without displaying the number publicly;(3) for law enforcement; or (4) obtained from a public record lawfully acquired from a governmental agency.
Authorizes persons aggrieved by violations of this law to bring civil actions in district courts to recover damages. Prohibits actions from being commenced more than three years after the date the violation was or should have been reasonably discovered. Subjects violators to civil money penalties as determined by the Commissioner of Social Security in addition to any other penalties that may be prescribed.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2554 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2554
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to prohibit the display of
an individual's social security number for commercial purposes without
the consent of the individual.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 15, 2000
Mr. Gregg (for himself and Mr. Dodd) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to prohibit the display of
an individual's social security number for commercial purposes without
the consent of the individual.
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 ``Amy Boyer's Law''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTING PRIVACY BY PROHIBITING DISPLAY OF THE SOCIAL
SECURITY NUMBER TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR COMMERCIAL
PURPOSES WITHOUT CONSENT.
(a) In General.--Part A of title XI of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``prohibition of certain misuses of the social security number
``Sec. 1150A. (a) Limitation on Display.--Except as otherwise
provided in this section, no person may display to the public any
individual's social security number, or any identifiable derivative of
such number, without the affirmatively expressed consent,
electronically or in writing, of such individual.
``(b) Prohibition of Wrongful Use as Personal Identification
Number.--No person may obtain any individual's social security number,
or any identifiable derivative of such number, for purposes of locating
or identifying an individual with the intent to physically injure,
harm, or use the identity of the individual for illegal purposes.
``(c) Prerequisites for Consent.--In order for consent to exist
under subsection (a), the person displaying, or seeking to display, an
individual's social security number, or any identifiable derivative of
such number, shall--
``(1) inform the individual of the general purposes for
which the number will be utilized and the types of persons to
whom the number may be available; and
``(2) obtain affirmatively expressed consent electronically
or in writing.
``(d) Exceptions.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to--
``(1) prohibit any use of social security numbers permitted
or required under section 205(c)(2), section 7(a)(2) of the
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a note; 88 Stat. 1909), or
section 6109(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
``(2) modify, limit, or supersede the operation of, or the
conduct of any activity permitted under, the Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or title V of the Gramm-
Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.);
``(3) except as set forth in subsection (b), prohibit or
limit the use of a social security number to retrieve
information about an individual without displaying such number
to the public;
``(4) prohibit or limit the use of the social security
number for purposes of law enforcement, including investigation
of fraud; or
``(5) prohibit or limit the use of a social security number
obtained from a public record or document lawfully acquired
from a governmental agency.
``(e) Civil Action in United States District Court; Damages;
Attorneys Fees and Costs; Regulatory Coordination.--
``(1) In general.--Any individual aggrieved by any act of
any person in violation of this section may bring a civil
action in a United States district court to recover--
``(A) such preliminary and equitable relief as the
court determines to be appropriate; and
``(B) the greater of--
``(i) actual damages;
``(ii) liquidated damages of $2,500; or
``(iii) in the case of a violation that was
willful and resulted in profit or monetary
gain, liquidated damages of $10,000.
``(2) Attorney's fees and costs.--In the case of a civil
action brought under paragraph (1)(B)(iii) in which the
aggrieved individual has substantially prevailed, the court may
assess against the respondent a reasonable attorney's fee and
other litigation costs and expenses (including expert fees)
reasonably incurred.
``(3) Statute of limitations.--No action may be commenced
under this subsection more than 3 years after the date on which
the violation was or should reasonably have been discovered by
the aggrieved individual.
``(4) Nonexclusive remedy.--The remedy provided under this
subsection shall be in addition to any other lawful remedy
available to the individual.
``(f) Civil Money Penalties.--
``(1) In general.--Any person who the Commissioner of
Social Security determines has violated this section shall be
subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be
prescribed by law, to--
``(A) a civil money penalty of not more than $5,000
for each such violation, and
``(B) a civil money penalty of not more than
$50,000, if violations have occurred with such
frequency as to constitute a general business practice.
``(2) Determination of violations.-- Any willful violation
committed contemporaneously with respect to the social security
numbers of 2 or more individuals by means of mail,
telecommunication, or otherwise shall be treated as a separate
violation with respect to each such individual.
``(3) Enforcement procedures.--The provisions of section
1128A (other than subsections (a), (b), (f), (h), (i), (j), and
(m), and the first sentence of subsection (c)) and the
provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section 205 shall
apply to civil money penalties under this subsection in the
same manner as such provisions apply to a penalty or proceeding
under section 1128A(a), except that, for purposes of this
paragraph, any reference in section 1128A to the Secretary
shall be deemed a reference to the Commissioner of Social
Security.
``(4) Coordination with criminal enforcement.--The
Commissioner of Social Security shall take such actions as are
necessary and appropriate to assure proper coordination of the
enforcement of the provisions of this section with criminal
enforcement under section 1028 of title 18, United States Code
(relating to fraud and related activity in connection with
identification documents). The Commissioner shall enter into
cooperative arrangements with the Federal Trade Commission
under section 5 of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence
Act of 1998 (18 U.S.C. 1028 note) for purposes of achieving
such coordination.
``(g) Limitation on Regulation by States.--No requirement or
prohibition may be imposed under the laws of any State with respect to
any subject matter regulated under subsections (a) through (d).
``(h) Definitions.--In this section, the term `display to the
general public' means the intentional placing of an individual's social
security number, or identifying portion thereof, in a viewable manner
on a web site that is available to the general public or in material
made available or sold to the general public.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) applies
with respect to violations occurring on and after the date which is 2
years after the date of enactment of this Act.
<greek-d>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3946-3947)
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