NCISS - Legislative Committee Update 11/05/09
Colleagues,
Larry Sabbath and I spent this Thursday morning watching the
Senate Judiciary Committee discussing two issues of concern to
NCISS and the investigative profession. The committee passed
S-1490, the “Personal Data Privacy & Security Act of 2009” and
S-139, the “Data Breach Notification Act.” These bills require
notification of consumers after beaches of personal data, but
our concern was possible amendments that would have affected our
members and the investigative profession.
Fortunately, the committee did not add any amendments regarding
the sale and display of Social Security numbers. Several
Republican amendments to narrow the scope of personal data
covered under the bill were defeated. S-1490 is sponsored by
Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee.
S-139, by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), also was passed by the
Committee and includes requirements to notify consumers when a
breach occurs. S-1690 is a more comprehensive bill and is likely
to be the primary bill that will be eventually considered on the
Senate floor because Senator Leahy Chairs the committee.
Chairman Leahy made it clear that there will be additional
changes made before the legislation is considered by the whole
Senate.
HR 1110, the House Judiciary Committee this week issued its
report on the PHONE Act, which bans caller ID spoofing for the
purpose of using false caller ID information with the intent
wrongfully to obtain anything of value. We are concerned that
ANY information acquired by investigators could be considered
"anything of value."
Here is the current wording:
Sec. 1041. Caller ID spoofing
`(a) Offense- Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign
commerce, knowingly uses or provides to another--
`(1) false caller ID information with intent wrongfully to
obtain anything of value; or
`(2) caller ID information pertaining to an actual person or
other entity without that person's or entity's consent and with
intent to deceive any person or other entity about the identity
of the caller; or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be
punished as provided in subsection (b).
`(b) Punishment- Whoever violates subsection (a) shall--
`(1) if the offense is a violation of subsection (a)(1), be
fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or
both; and
`(2) if the offense is a violation of subsection (a)(2), be
fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or
both.
`(c) Law Enforcement Exception- This section does not prohibit
lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence
activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a
State, or a political subdivision of a state, or of an
intelligence agency of the United States, or any activity
authorized under chapter 224 of this title.
`(d) Forfeiture-
`(1) IN GENERAL- The court, in imposing sentence on a person who
is convicted of an offense under this section, shall order that
the defendant forfeit to the United States--
`(A) any property, real or personal, constituting or traceable
to gross proceeds obtained from such offense; and
`(B) any equipment, software or other technology used or
intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of
such offense.
The NCISS Legislative Committee will continue to monitor daily
activity in Washington, DC and keep you informed in these and
all the other bills that may affect our members and the entire
profession. You can find more information about bills we are
following at
http://www.nciss.org/Tracking/legislative_resources.htm.
Sincerely,
Jimmie Mesis, LPI
NCISS Legislative Chairman
jim@nciss.org
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