S. 3242: Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act of 2020

116th Congress · introduced 2020-01-28 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2020-01-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act of 2020

Plain summary

Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act of 2020 This bill imposes limitations on investigative powers provided under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), reauthorizes certain FISA programs, and makes related changes. Provisions include reauthorizing to December 15, 2023, FISA authority to obtain business records, but also repealing the power to use such authority to obtain records on an ongoing basis; excluding certain data, such as cell phone location, from FISA authority to access business records; establishing that nonpublic information collected under FISA authority may not be retained for more than three years unless the information includes foreign intelligence information; disallowing the use of FISA-collected business records for criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings except in certain instances, such as cases involving a specific cybersecurity threat from a foreign country; requiring a government entity to notify a targeted person that the entity intends to use in court business records collected under FISA; excluding cell site location and global positioning system information from FISA authority for using a pen register or trap and trace device to collect evidence; reauthorizing to December 15, 2023, the power to treat individual terrorists as foreign agents; expanding the powers of FISA court amicus curiae (outside parties appointed to assist in a case), such as by authorizing the amicus to refer a FISA court decision to the FISA Court of Review; and repealing the government's authority to use National Security Letters to obtain financial or communications records without a court order.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act of 2020

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] · 6 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Steve Daines (R-MT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] reported raising $1.9 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s3242.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s3242 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116