[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8093 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8093

 To amend the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 to update and strengthen 
     protections for newsgathering records, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2026

  Ms. Balint introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 to update and strengthen 
     protections for newsgathering records, 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 ``Privacy Protection Updates Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCLUSIONARY RULE FOR VIOLATIONS.

    Section 106 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
2000aa-6) is amended by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(e)(1) Except in a civil action described in subsection (a), 
materials described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 101 searched 
for or seized in violation of this Act, and evidence derived therefrom, 
may not be used, received in evidence, or otherwise disseminated in any 
investigation, trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any 
court, grand jury, department, office, agency, regulatory body, 
legislative committee, or other authority of the United States, a 
State, or political subdivision thereof.
    ``(2)(A) Any aggrieved person in any trial, hearing, or proceeding 
in or before any court, department, office, agency, regulatory body, or 
other authority of the United States, a State, or a political 
subdivision thereof, may move to suppress materials described in 
subsections (a) and (b) of section 101 searched for or seized pursuant 
to this Act, or evidence derived therefrom, on the grounds that--
            ``(i) the materials were unlawfully searched for or seized;
            ``(ii) the warrant or order permitting the search or 
        seizure of the materials is insufficient on its face under the 
        requirements of this Act; or
            ``(iii) the search or seizure was not made in conformity 
        with the warrant or order.
    ``(B) If the motion is granted, the materials, and evidence derived 
therefrom, shall be treated as having been obtained in violation of 
this Act.''.

SEC. 3. OTHER REMEDIES PERMITTED.

    Section 106 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
2000aa-6) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (d); and
            (2) by redesignating subsections (e) through (h) as 
        subsections (d) through (g), respectively.

SEC. 4. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES IN WARRANT APPLICATION.

    Section 101 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
2000aa) is amended by adding at the end of the following:
    ``(d)(1) In this subsection, the term `covered materials' means 
materials described in subsection (a) or (b).
    ``(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), a government officer or 
employee may only search for or seize covered materials, pursuant to an 
exception described in subsection (a) or (b), if--
            ``(A) the officer or employee obtains a warrant issued 
        using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal 
        Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State 
        warrant procedures) by a court of competent jurisdiction;
            ``(B) in the application for a warrant described in 
        paragraph (1), the officer or employee discloses--
                    ``(i) the factual basis justifying the 
                applicability of an exception described in subsection 
                (a) or (b), including all information that--
                            ``(I) might reasonably call into question 
                        the accuracy of the information or the 
                        reasonableness of any assessment in the 
                        application, including how the materials 
                        qualify as covered materials if no exception is 
                        satisfied; or
                            ``(II) otherwise raises doubts that an 
                        exception applies; and
                    ``(ii) all persons who are the targets of the 
                investigation or prosecution of the criminal offense;
            ``(C) the court finds that--
                    ``(i) an exception permits the search for or 
                seizure of the covered materials; and
                    ``(ii) if the officer or employee argues that an 
                exception described in subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1) 
                applies, that a prosecution for the alleged offense 
                under the facts is consistent with the First Amendment 
                to the Constitution of the United States; and
            ``(D) the court includes such limitations as the court 
        deems necessary to protect against--
                    ``(i) the search for or seizure of covered 
                materials that are not justified by an exception; and
                    ``(ii) the harms that might follow from a search or 
                seizure described in clause (i).
    ``(3) A government officer or employee may search for or seize 
covered materials pursuant to the exceptions described in subsections 
(a)(2) and (b)(2), without following the procedures described in 
paragraph (2), if the officer or employee--
            ``(A) takes reasonable measures to limit any search or 
        seizure to only those covered materials that are necessary to 
        address the harms giving rise to the exception; and
            ``(B) not later than 48 hours after such search or seizure, 
        submits to a court of competent jurisdiction an application 
        that discloses--
                    ``(i) the covered materials searched for or seized;
                    ``(ii) the measures described in subparagraph (A); 
                and
                    ``(iii) the information described in paragraph 
                (2)(B).
    ``(4)(A) Upon receipt of an application under paragraph (3)(B), the 
court shall review the application and issue an order determining 
whether the search or seizure was justified by an exception described 
in paragraph (3).
    ``(B) If the court issues an order described in subparagraph (A) 
that the search for or seizure of covered materials was not justified 
by an exception described in paragraph (3)--
            ``(i) the covered materials shall be treated as if they 
        were searched for or seized, as applicable, in violation of 
        this Act; and
            ``(ii) the court shall order the government officer or 
        employee to--
                    ``(I) immediately return all covered materials 
                seized; and
                    ``(II) destroy any copies of the covered materials 
                seized.
    ``(C) If the court issues an order described in subparagraph (A) 
that the search for or seizure of covered materials was justified by an 
exception described in paragraph (3), the court may order the 
government officer or employee to take any measures that the court 
determines are reasonable to appropriately balance the continued need 
for the covered materials of the government officer or employee against 
the harms flowing from the continued access to covered materials by the 
government officer or employee, including by ordering the return of any 
portions of the covered materials, the destruction of any copies of any 
portions of the covered materials, or by limiting the use or 
dissemination of any portion of the covered materials.''.

SEC. 5. CLARIFYING POSSESSION OF MATERIALS ON THE CLOUD.

    Section 101 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
2000aa), as amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended by adding at 
the end of the following:
    ``(e) For purposes of subsections (a) and (b), if the materials 
described in such subsections are stored, held, or maintained on an 
electronic communication service (as defined in section 2510 of title 
18, United States Code) or remote computing service (as defined in 
section 2711 of title 18, United States Code) by or on behalf of a 
customer or subscriber, the customer or subscriber shall be the person 
deemed to possess such materials.''.
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