October 22, 2026
Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Ms. Kamlager-Dove) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from obtaining certain personally identifiable information.
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 Disaster Data Protection Act
.
Sec. 2. Prohibition on sharing certain personally identifiable information
(a) In general
No Federal funds may be used by the Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain personally identifiable information collected by non-governmental entity in response to a natural disaster.
(b) Exception
A non-governmental entity may provide personal information to the Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the Director obtains a judicial warrant for such information.
(c) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Personally identifiable information
The term personally identifiable information
means—
(A)
any information that can be used to distinguish or trace the identity of an individual, including such as a name, residential address, a social security number, an alien registration number, a date and place of birth, or a parent's maiden name; or
(B)
any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by a non-governmental entity, including education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains a name, finger or voice print, or a photograph.
(2) Natural disaster
The term natural disaster
means any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, drought, fire, or other catastrophe in any part of the United States which causes, or which may cause, substantial damage or injury to civilian property or persons.