{"format":1,"id":"118-hr-4639","congress":118,"number":"H.R. 4639","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To amend section 2702 of title 18, United States Code, to prevent law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining subscriber or customer records in exchange for anything of value, to address communications and records in the possession of intermediary internet service providers, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To amend section 2702 of title 18, United States Code, to prevent law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining subscriber or customer records in exchange for anything of value, to address communications and records in the possession of intermediary internet service providers, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Display Title","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to House","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2023-07-14","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2024-04-17","vote":{"id":"118-2024-h136","question":"On Passage","title":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act","result":"Passed","yea":219,"nay":199,"present":1,"not_voting":12,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll136.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"na","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"na","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate.","date":"2024-04-18"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[{"number":"H.Amdt. 885","sponsor":"Rep. LaLota, Nick [R-NY-1]","purpose":"Amendment sought to clarify that section 2 of the bill shall not limit a governmental entity's ability to obtain information that would be obtainable without a warrant.","result":"Failed","date":"2024-04-17","yea":176,"nay":246,"present":1,"not_voting":13,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll135.xml"}],"other_votes":[{"chamber":"house","date":"2024-04-17","question":"On Agreeing to the Amendment","title":"","result":"Failed","yea":176,"nay":246,"present":1,"not_voting":13,"kind":"amendment","source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll135.xml"}],"crs_summary":{"date":"2023-07-14","stage":"Introduced in House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill expands prohibited disclosures of stored electronic communications under the Stored Communications Act."},{"k":"p","t":"The Stored Communications Act generally prohibits certain technology providers—remote computing service (RCS) providers and electronic communication service (ECS) providers—from disclosing the contents of stored electronic communications to anyone, including the government; and records or information pertaining to a customer or subscriber to a government entity."},{"k":"p","t":"This bill extends the general prohibitions on disclosure to an additional type of technology provider: intermediary service providers. Intermediary service providers (commonly referred to as data brokers) are companies that deliver, store, or process communications for RCS and ECS providers."},{"k":"p","t":"The bill also limits the authority of law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies to access certain customer and subscriber records or illegitimately obtained information. With respect to such records, the bill"},{"k":"li","t":"prohibits law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies from obtaining the records or information from a third party in exchange for anything of value (e.g., purchasing them);","d":1},{"k":"li","t":"prohibits other government agencies from sharing the records or information with law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies; and","d":1},{"k":"li","t":"prohibits the use of such records or information in any trial, hearing, or proceeding.","d":1},{"k":"p","t":"Additionally, the bill requires the government to obtain a court order before aquiring certain customer and subscriber records or any illegitimately obtained information from a third party."}],"words":222},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Amends federal law on stored electronic communications and surveillance to bar law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining certain customer records and communications from third parties in exchange for anything of value, and to set court-order and exclusive-means rules for obtaining such information.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBF8748BBF0BE4829B341A548AB48A88B"},{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HCA1CAA6AE9254DDAA3EAD0A66A0D9681"},{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBA06F5710DFF46C28E60AA5012494B12"},{"label":"Sec. 5","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#H3198A2DA1A8141DFB4577652D544CCFD"}]},"core_areas":["Government purchase of customer and subscriber records from third parties","Court orders for government access to records held by third parties","Disclosure duties of intermediary service providers","Exclusive legal means for foreign intelligence acquisition of communications records and location information","Limits on civil immunity for assistance under emergency interception certifications"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Bars a law enforcement agency and an element of the intelligence community from obtaining, in exchange for anything of value from a third party, a covered customer or subscriber record or illegitimately obtained information.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBF8748BBF0BE4829B341A548AB48A88B"}},{"text":"Bars an agency that is not a law enforcement agency or intelligence community element from giving such records or information, if obtained from a third party for value, to a law enforcement agency or intelligence community element.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBF8748BBF0BE4829B341A548AB48A88B"}},{"text":"Provides that records or information obtained or provided in violation of the purchase and sharing limits, and evidence derived from them, may not be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBF8748BBF0BE4829B341A548AB48A88B"}},{"text":"Bars a governmental entity from requiring a third party to disclose a covered customer or subscriber record or illegitimately obtained information unless it obtains a court order, where a court order would be required to obtain the same record from a provider.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HCA1CAA6AE9254DDAA3EAD0A66A0D9681"}},{"text":"Defines \"intermediary service provider\" and provides that such a provider shall not knowingly divulge the contents of a communication in electronic storage to any person or entity, or certain subscriber or customer records to any governmental entity.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 4","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBA06F5710DFF46C28E60AA5012494B12"}},{"text":"Makes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 the exclusive means for acquiring communications transactions records, call detail records, location information, web browsing history, and internet search history of United States persons or persons inside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes inside the United States.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 5","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#H3198A2DA1A8141DFB4577652D544CCFD"}}],"unexpected":[{"category":"selective_carve_out","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh#HBF8748BBF0BE4829B341A548AB48A88B"},"heading":"Protection of records held by data brokers","effect":"Defines 'covered record' to leave out several kinds of information, including data generated by automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems, so these are not covered by the purchase limit in this section.","amount":null,"quote":"is data generated by a public or private ALPR system;"}]}],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2024-04-17","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-02","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4639/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/118-hr-4639.png","v":"c53613395dd6","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 4639, 118th Congress: Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. House: 219 Yea, 199 Nay. Outcome: Passed House, 17 Apr 2024."}}