S 1208 119th Congress
Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2025
A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to address records maintained on individuals, and for other purposes.
Official Title as Introduced Congress.gov
Open official Congress.gov recordSource-linked procedural record
Bill journey
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Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in Senate
Open bill recordText version Congress.gov
Introduced in Senate
A dated text-version record is available.
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View the complete bill journey as an accessible table
| Date and time | Record | Official detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| IntroductionIntroduced | Introduced in the Senate. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in Senate | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Library of Congress · Code 10000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionIntroduced in Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov |
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Congressional Research Service
CRS summary
Privacy Act Modernization Act of 2025This bill strengthens privacy protections that apply to personal data held or maintained by government agencies. These protections restrict the storage, access, use, and disclosure of personal data, such as an individual’s name or Social Security number.Currently, these protections apply to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The bill expands this to include natural persons in the United States and certain associations and corporations. The bill places additional limits on the use and disclosure of such data, including by limiting the use of records to a legally authorized purpose and requiring disclosures to be minimal and consistent with a previously stated use.The bill also increases existing penalties and creates additional criminal penalties for violations. For example, under the bill, an agency employee who willfully discloses individually identifiable information with the intent to sell, transfer, use, or disclose such information for commercial advantage, personal gain, or malicious harm shall be guilty of a felony and fined not more than $250,000, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.Courts may provide preliminary relief and, if the U.S. is found to have acted intentionally or willfully, the U.S. is liable for additional types of damages (e.g., punitive).The bill generally takes effect two years after the date of enactment. However, the bill takes effect immediately upon enactment with respect to certain actions taken by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), certain special or temporary employees, and other related individuals and organizations.
Official documents
Text versions
- Introduced in SenateMar 31, 2025