April 30, 2018 - U.S. Representative Jeff Denham’s (R-Turlock) bill to protect personal information, H.R. 4403, the Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Rep. Denham spoke on the House floor to promote the bill before the vote.

Rep. Denham: “Protecting American’s personally identifiable information has been hotly debated in the halls of Congress this month… We must do a better job of protecting our armed service members who are making the sacrifice to wear the cloth of this great nation.”

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy commented on the bill at the time, saying “Over 100 million Americans have been subject to identity theft, and Congress must do everything we can to help protect the personal information of our constituents. Because of the strong leadership of Representative Denham, today’s passage of Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 4403) will help safeguard the identities of Americans in a common sense way by removing personally identifiable information transmitted to third parties. Jeff’s commitment on this issue will enhance the privacy protection of our neighbors and communities.”

Rep. Denham’s bill would prevent the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) from providing personally identifiable information to third-party data brokers; such information can include names, social security numbers, and passport numbers collected as part of required documents for shipments into the United States. Currently, the agency provides this information to third-party data brokers, where it can be made available online or deliberately stolen, putting people at risk for easy identity theft, credit card fraud, and unwanted advertising solicitations. H.R. 4403 would amend the current customs disclosure process to explicitly require the removal of personally identifiable information to ensure CBP does not compromise the identities of service members and citizens.
Source: Congressman Jeff Denham