Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 847) to support research on privacy enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 847

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. DEFINITION OF PRIVACY ENHANCING TECHNOLOGY.

In this Act, the term ``privacy enhancing technology''--

(1) means any software or hardware solution, technical process, or other technological means of mitigating individuals' privacy risks arising from data processing by enhancing predictability, manageability, disassociability, and confidentiality; and

(2) may include--

(A) cryptographic techniques for facilitating computation or analysis on data while mitigating privacy risks;

(B) techniques for publicly sharing data without enabling inferences to be made about specific individuals;

(C) techniques for giving individuals' control over the dissemination, sharing, and use of their data;

(D) techniques for generating synthetic data; and

(E) any other technology or approach that reduces the risk of re-identification, including when combined with other information. SEC. 3. 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 mitigate individuals' privacy risks in data sets while maintaining fairness, accuracy, and efficiency;

(2) fundamental research on algorithms and other similar mathematical tools used to protect individual privacy when collecting, storing, sharing, analyzing, or aggregating data;

(3) fundamental research on technologies that promote data minimization in data collection, sharing, and analytics that takes into account the trade-offs between the data minimization goals and the informational goals of data collection;

(4) research awards on privacy enhancing technologies coordinated with other relevant Federal agencies and programs;

(5) supporting education and workforce training research and development activities, including re-training and upskilling of the existing workforce, to grow the number of privacy enhancing technology researchers and practitioners;

(6) multidisciplinary socio-technical research that fosters broader understanding of privacy preferences, requirements, and human behavior to inform the design and adoption of effective privacy solutions;

(7) development of freely available privacy enhancing technology software libraries, platforms, and applications; and

(8) fundamental research on techniques that may undermine the protections provided by privacy enhancing technologies, the limitations of the protections provided by privacy enhancing technologies, and the trade-offs between privacy and utility required for their deployment. SEC. 4. 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 and confidentiality, including privacy enhancing technologies;''. SEC. 5. COORDINATION WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS.

(a) 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, the Federal Trade Commission, and the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, to accelerate the development, deployment, and adoption of privacy enhancing technologies.

(b) Outreach.--The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall conduct outreach to--

(1) receive input from private, public, and academic stakeholders on the development of privacy enhancing technologies; and

(2) facilitate and support ongoing public and private sector engagement to inform the development and dissemination of voluntary, consensus-based technical standards, guidelines, methodologies, procedures, and processes to cost- effectively increase the integration of privacy enhancing technologies in data collection, sharing, and analytics performed by the public and private sectors. SEC. 6. 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 heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations 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 section 5(b)(2); and

(3) any policy recommendations that could facilitate and improve communication and coordination between the private sector and relevant Federal agencies for the implementation and adoption of privacy enhancing technologies. SEC. 7. PROTECTING PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.

Any personal identifying information collected or stored through the activities authorized in this Act shall be done in accordance with section 690 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to the protection of human subjects), or any successor regulation.

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Ms. STEVENS. 847, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 847, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act.

The 21st century has ushered in the era of hyper-internet utilization, the gig economy of nearly everything.

Americans are online. Practically any digital action that internet users take--from social media to shopping online to browsing news or using email--creates data that is stored by companies or organizations. More and more data about each of us is being generated faster and faster each day. In fact, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated nearly every day. Ninety percent of the world's data was created in just the last 2 years alone.

Companies can use, share, or sell data they collect since most of the data economy is invisible--Americans are not able to see this constant flow of their information, but the more modern digital economy is fueled by personal data.

Unfortunately, there are few processes that can enable the productive use of personal data while also protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the people to whom that data is linked.

A 2019 survey by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration found that 73 percent of U.S. households have significant concerns about online privacy and security risks. I hear it from my own constituents all throughout Oakland County, Michigan.

There are tremendous opportunities to capture the benefits of data, including for safer roads, improved public health, and better educational outcomes. However, in any use of personal data, we have the ability and the necessity to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Form and function, my friends. One key way to achieve that is through the development of the privacy-enhancing technologies, or PETs.

PETs are a broad range of technologies that allow organizations to collect, share, and use data while mitigating the privacy risks that arise from those activities. The goal is to make these systems that use personal information private by default, opening up those data to a wide range of researchers who would otherwise not have access.

These technologies have the potential to enable broader use of Federal data sets, as privacy risks are often the greatest barrier to open government data efforts. We recognize the untapped potential and opportunity for the United States of America to lead here. The technology itself for PETs is still immature and not necessarily ready for widespread use.

My bill, H.R. 847, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act, supports research, workforce development, standard setting, and government coordination for PETs.

H.R. 847 directs the National Science Foundation to conduct fundamental privacy research that can help improve these technologies, assess their limitations, and broaden their applicability. This bill also directs the National Science Foundation to support workforce development activities in order to help address the growing shortage of privacy professionals across the United States of America.

H.R. 847 also supports activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to facilitate the development of standards and best practices for integration of PETs in the public and private sectors. This is the best of government in action, my friends.

Finally, H.R. 847 directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate Federal activities to accelerate the development of PETs across government.

Congress has been debating different proposals for privacy legislation, as we know, for many, many years. I remain hopeful and optimistic that we will get something done. In the meantime, the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act will help ensure that we have the necessary tools to fully implement privacy legislation without stifling innovation. It is high time that we research ways in which privacy-enhancing technologies can be utilized to protect Americans' most sensitive and personal data.

I also thank my colleagues--this has been a bipartisan effort-- Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, as well as Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Senator Deb Fischer, for working with me to develop this legislation last year. I also thank our stakeholders whose feedback helped strengthen this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 847, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague in encouraging Members of this legislative body to support H.R. 847. I recognize that privacy- enhancing technologies are an innovation opportunity for the United States of America. The role that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will play with this legislation will convene industry stakeholders and nonprofit groups to a standard set, which is certainly welcome by many, and will also ensure us the ability to continue to succeed and compete in years to come.

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