Congress Passes Bill to Protect Moving Privacy
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Legislation designed to protect people’s personal information during a move was recently cleared by Congress for President Joe Biden’s signature.
The Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act, cleared by the Senate on Jan. 31, would safeguard certain identifiable information of individuals moving internationally.
The House passed it on Jan. 18.
Its sponsors include Reps. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) in the House and Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in the Senate.
Daines
“Due to the current public disclosure of cargo manifests, our servicemembers and their families experience a higher risk of identity theft and fraud as they move abroad,” Waltz said after the measure’s passage in the House last month. “It is critical we take the necessary steps to protect them against dangerous and fraudulent activity. That’s why I am proud to pass legislation in the House to secure international travel and help safeguard the livelihoods of Americans.”
“It’s simple — the private information of Montanans and our service members should never be jeopardized just because they are moving or traveling abroad,” Daines said. “Safeguarding Americans from identity theft and fraud is a top priority of mine and I’m glad to see our commonsense, bipartisan bill one step closer to becoming law.”
The bill’s provisions are specific to individuals moving internationally with household goods. It would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to remove personally identifiable information from cargo manifests before public disclosure. Such information includes passports and Social Security numbers.
According to background information about the bill from Daines’ office, “in recent years, [personally identifiable information] of relocating individuals has been released, enabling identity theft, credit card fraud, and unwanted solicitations. [Customs and Border Protection] does offer a process for consumers of shipping services to make their information confidential. However, these forms [typically] take two months to process and are often processed after the individual has moved. Consumers should not have to request the confidentiality of their PII, it should be the default.”
Several stakeholders, such as American Trucking Associations, touted the bill’s passage in Congress. “Conventional political wisdom says not much gets done on Capitol Hill during an election year. We simply don’t accept that. Our industry works hard every day to deliver for the American people, and we expect Congress to do the same,” said ATA President Chris Spear on Jan. 31. “The passage of this significant piece of legislation is proof that even in the most difficult legislative environments, ATA is still moving bills into law.”
Lovejoy
“We are grateful for our congressional champions on this bill — Reps. Waltz and Pascrell and Sens. Daines and Peters — who kept their foot on the gas until the personal data of military families and other Americans was protected,” Spear continued. “With 2024 well underway, we will not stop advocating for commonsense legislative solutions that will strengthen our supply chain.”
“I want to thank Sens. Daines and Peters, Reps. Waltz and Pascrell, and the others in Congress who have worked for many years to get this legislation passed,” said Bill Lovejoy, chairman of ATA’s Moving & Storage Conference and president of Republic Moving & Storage. “This isn’t just a win for the moving industry; it’s also a win for the American service members and others who shouldn’t be at greater risk of identity theft simply because they moved back to the United States.”
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