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