Overview

Title

An Act To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to protect personally identifiable information, and for other purposes.

ELI5 AI

H.R. 1568 is a plan to make sure that people's personal information, like their Social Security numbers, isn’t shown in shipping details that can be seen by everyone. This is to keep people safe and protect their private info when things are being shipped.

Summary AI

H.R. 1568, titled the “Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act,” aims to protect personally identifiable information by amending the Tariff Act of 1930. The bill outlines conditions under which certain shipping information cannot be disclosed to the public, especially if it might pose threats of personal injury or property damage, or if it falls under specific exemptions. It also mandates that sensitive details like Social Security and passport numbers be removed from shipping manifests before public access. The changes are set to take effect 30 days after the bill's enactment.

Published

2024-02-06
Congress: 118
Session: 2
Chamber: JOINT
Status: Enrolled Bill
Date: 2024-02-06
Package ID: BILLS-118hr1568enr

Bill Statistics

Size

Sections:
2
Words:
316
Pages:
1
Sentences:
13

Language

Nouns: 87
Verbs: 21
Adjectives: 11
Adverbs: 3
Numbers: 16
Entities: 24

Complexity

Average Token Length:
4.09
Average Sentence Length:
24.31
Token Entropy:
4.65
Readability (ARI):
13.29

AnalysisAI

General Summary

The proposed legislation, officially titled the "Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act," aims to amend the Tariff Act of 1930. Its primary purpose is to safeguard personally identifiable information (PII) associated with shipping and transport manifests from public disclosure. This Act seeks to prevent the exposure of sensitive data such as Social Security and passport numbers by ensuring they are removed from transport documents before such documents are made publicly accessible. The proposed amendments will be effective 30 days after the enactment of the Act.

Summary of Significant Issues

One of the foremost issues with this bill is the ambiguity surrounding the identification and removal of personally identifiable information. The legislation does not clearly establish the responsible party for the removal of such sensitive data, which could potentially lead to confusion or inefficient practices in its implementation. Furthermore, the criteria that the Secretary of the Treasury must use to determine whether disclosure poses a threat are not well-defined, implying that the Secretary could have too much discretion, leading to possible inconsistencies in application.

Additionally, the bill references "any manifest signed, produced, delivered, or electronically transmitted," which could be interpreted in several ways. This lack of specificity may result in challenges about the scope of documents affected. Moreover, paragraph references within the legislation are unclear to an average reader, hindering full comprehension of what specific information is being protected.

Potential Impact on the Public

Broadly, this legislation is crafted with public privacy concerns in mind, endeavoring to shield private citizens from potential harm that might arise from the exposure of their sensitive information. By restricting access to personally identifiable information, the bill aims to offer greater privacy protections to individuals. This should generally be viewed in a positive light by the public, especially in an era where data breaches and identity theft are prevalent.

Impact on Specific Stakeholders

For government agencies and the transport industry, the bill could introduce new processes and compliance requirements to ensure that personally identifiable information is protected. Without clear guidance on responsibilities and procedures, these stakeholders might face hurdles in attaining full compliance. The lack of detail on the workflow and criteria for information protection give rise to potential for disputes and operational inefficiencies, possibly leading to higher administrative costs and the need for additional training for relevant personnel.

Data protection advocates are likely to welcome the bill, as it addresses a significant gap in privacy protection. However, these advocates may push for clearer guidelines and responsibilities to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the privacy measures.

In conclusion, while the Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act represents a step forward in securing sensitive personal information, its effectiveness hinges on clarifying certain implementation aspects, which are crucial for its success and acceptance among the involved stakeholders.

Issues

  • The amendment in Section 2 does not specify who is responsible for removing personally identifiable information from manifests, which could lead to implementation challenges and inefficiencies. This could have significant legal and operational implications if not clearly assigned.

  • The criteria for the Secretary of the Treasury's affirmative finding that disclosure poses a threat are not detailed in Section 2. This lack of specificity could lead to broad interpretation and inconsistent application, potentially resulting in legal challenges or privacy concerns.

  • Section 2 uses the phrase 'any manifest signed, produced, delivered, or electronically transmitted' without specifying whether it refers to all related documents or only certain types, which may result in ambiguity and different interpretations, leading to legal and operational complications.

  • The term 'information listed in paragraph (1)' in Section 2 is unclear without access to paragraph (1), hindering the public's ability to fully understand the scope of the information being protected, raising transparency issues.

  • Section 1 only provides the short title of the Act without details on its implications, making it difficult for stakeholders to understand the potential impacts of the legislation. This lack of information may lead to confusion or misinterpretation of the Act's intent.

Sections

Sections are presented as they are annotated in the original legislative text. Any missing headers, numbers, or non-consecutive order is due to the original text.

1. Short title Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The first section of the bill states that the official name of this legislation is the “Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act”.

2. Protection of personally identifiable information Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The section amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to specify that certain information will not be publicly disclosed if it poses a threat to personal safety or is exempt by law. It ensures that personally identifiable information, like Social Security and passport numbers, is removed from shipping manifests before being accessible to the public.