{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2024/10/sen-rick-scott-joins-sen-mike-lee-to-introduce-the-saving-privacy-act-to-protect-americans-financial-data", "Sen. Rick Scott Joins Sen. Mike Lee to Introduce the Saving Privacy Act to Protect Americans' Financial Data", "2024-10-22", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "FL", "Rick Scott", "S001217", "www.rickscott.senate.gov", "rickscott", "https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/press-releases/", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senator Rick Scott joined Senator Mike Lee to introduce the Saving Privacy Act, a bill to end government abuse of Americans\u2019 financial information. For years, federal agencies have been overreaching in their surveillance, collecting vast amounts of personal financial data from law-abiding citizens without just cause.\n\nSenator Rick Scott said, \u201cBig government has no place in law-abiding Americans\u2019 personal finances. It is a massive overreach of the government and a gross violation of their privacy. That is why I am teaming up with Senator Lee so that we can protect Americans\u2019 personal financials for good. Our Saving Privacy Act will allow federal agencies to go after criminals while also protecting innocent Americans\u2019 data. This is commonsense legislation, and I am urging my colleagues to support its immediate passage.\u201d\n\nSenator Mike Lee said, \u201cThe federal government has no business surveilling the financial activities of millions of innocent Americans. The current system erodes the privacy rights of citizens, while doing little to effectively catch true financial criminals. My Saving Privacy Act ensures that Americans\u2019 personal information is protected and that government agencies operate within the bounds of the Constitution.\u201d\n\nNorbert Michel, Jennifer Schulp, and Nicholas Anthony of the Cato Institute said, \u201cThis kind of reform restores the proper balance\u2014as provided by the Fourth Amendment\u2014between Americans\u2019 privacy rights and law enforcement\u2019s ability to gather evidence to enforce laws. It would protect individuals\u2019 financial privacy and improve federal agencies\u2019 abilities to prosecute criminal activity rather than sift through millions of low-value reports. This kind of reform is long overdue.\u201d\n\nBryan Bashur, Director of Financial Policy for Americans for Tax Reform, said, \u201cFinancial privacy is of paramount importance in the digital age. Lawmakers should support Sen. Lee\u2019s efforts to further preserve financial privacy and prevent the federal government from easily accessing this information. Enacting this legislation will also protect consumers from other existential threats to financial privacy\u2014such as tracking stock trading and electronic payment activity.\n\nYa\u00ebl Ossowski, Deputy Director at the Consumer Choice Center, said, \u201cRather than forcing banks to hound their customers for cash withdrawals to purchase cars, pay rent, or simply live their lives, Senator Lee's Saving Privacy Act would restore consumer financial privacy and make reporting standards reasonable enough to still target malicious actors and criminals.\u201d\n\nGovernment surveillance efforts have been largely ineffective, as demonstrated by the dismal success rate of suspicious activity reports (SARs) submitted to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In FY2023, financial institutions submitted 25.4 million SARs and currency transaction reports (CTRs), yet less than 0.3% of these reports resulted in relevant IRS-CI and FBI cases.\n\nIn recent years, FinCEN and the FBI surveilled the financial transactions of individuals and solicited banks for information on purchases related to \u201cTrump,\u201d \u201cMAGA,\u201d firearms, and even religious texts. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has quietly been constructing a centralized database, the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), designed to track every single stock market transaction and the personal information of millions of Americans without any congressional approval.\n\nThe Saving Privacy Act seeks to curb these abuses and restore Fourth Amendment protections for all Americans.\n\nKey Provisions of the Saving Privacy Act:\n\nRepeals the Bank Secrecy Act\u2019s SAR and CTR reporting requirements while maintaining recordkeeping provisions.\n\nRepeals the Corporate Transparency Act.\n\nStrengthens Fourth Amendment protections, bolstering warrant requirements in the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978.\n\nRepeals the SEC\u2019s Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) database.\n\nRequires congressional approval for any new databases that collect personally identifiable information of U.S. citizens.\n\nProhibits the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency.\n\nRequires congressional authorization for financial regulations deemed major rules.\n\nInstitutes penalties for federal employees who illegally seek constitutionally protected financial information.\n\nEstablishes a private right of action for Americans and financial institutions harmed by illicit government activity.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2024/10/sen-rick-scott-joins-sen-mike-lee-to-introduce-the-saving-privacy-act-to-protect-americans-financial-data"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7897477373480797, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}