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Tag: Privacy

Daines, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Protect Students’ Data

July 16, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today introduced legislation to ensure proper safeguards are in place to protect students’ data.    The Safeguarding American Families from Exposure by Keeping Information and Data Secure (SAFE KIDS) Act protects student privacy by establishing clear parameters for third-party operators when using data collected from students. The legislation empowers parents to control access to their children’s information. The current federal protections for student data, including the tools currently available to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are woefully inadequate. The SAFE KIDS Act empowers the FTC to oversee and enforce collection, storage and usage of

Daines Statement on Resignation of OPM Director

July 10, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement in response to the resignation of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta. “Director Archuleta’s resignation is an important first step in restoring accountability at OPM—however, OPM’s consistent failure to properly address and react to these cyber attacks results from a much larger, systemic lack of accountability within the Obama administration,” Daines stated. “It’s time for President Obama to place a higher premium on our nation’s security and the privacy of our federal employees and put qualified, competent leaders in place, including a new Chief Information Officer, instead of

Daines: Latest OPM Report Affirms Need for New Leadership

July 9, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today reiterated his calls for new leadership at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in light of new reports that more than 21.5 Americans were victims of a mass breach of the OPM’s personnel database. This reported hack is in addition to the more than 4.2 million breached records originally announced by OPM last month. “The systemic failures and lack of accountability at OPM is staggering and completely unacceptable.  The breach reported today is five times larger than OPM’s initial reports and not only affects federal employees, but employees’ family and friends, government contractors and countless

Daines Joins Cavuto to Discuss OPM Hack

June 24, 2015

Senator Steve Daines today reiterated his call for Director Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Katherine Archuleta to step down amid serious concerns that under her watch, OPM failed to address major security flaws and systemic problems leading to the largest ever breach of federal employees’ personal information.  In the interview, Daines also called for the resignation of Donna Seymour the Chief Information Office (CIO) for OPM. “We need to hold the government accountable to standards we hold people in the private sector accountable to. The director should be let go, I think the CIO as well at OPM should be fired. This is unacceptable, it

Daines: OPM Director Should Step Down

June 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today called on Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Katherine Archuleta to step down in light of recent reports that due to failures in OPM’s security, an estimated 18 million current, former and prospective federal employees were victims of a mass cyber breach. “Under Katherine Archuleta’s watch, OPM allowed one of the largest breaches of federal employees’ personal information in our nation’s history. More, Ms. Archuleta has refused to take accountability for this great failure – in turn failing the American people, whom she swore an oath to protect and defend,” Daines

Daines Statement on Reported Chinese Cyber Attacks

June 12, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement in response to reports that Chinese hackers have accessed the private security clearance information of millions of military and intelligence personnel: “Reports that Chinese hackers have hacked into private security clearance information from our nation’s military and intelligence agencies is deeply concerning and could have devastating implications for our national security. This is the second major cyber attack on the federal government in just a week, and it is deeply troubling that the Obama administration has yet to prioritize addressing this serious problem.  These attacks reaffirm the importance of strengthening

Daines Hails Long Overdue Passage of USA Freedom Act

June 2, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today hailed the long overdue passage of the bipartisan USA Freedom Act: “I look forward to seeing this bipartisan legislation quickly signed into law by the President. The USA Freedom Act takes the long overdue step to end the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records and secures important reforms to protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights. Today’s vote is a win for our civil liberties and our constitutional rights. ” Daines has long worked to protect Americans’ civil liberties and Fourth Amendment rights. Daines is an original cosponsor of the USA Freedom Act of

Daines Statement on the USA Freedom Act

May 31, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement after the Senate voted to advance the bipartisan USA Freedom Act. “I’m pleased to see the Senate take a critical step towards ending the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records by advancing the USA Freedom Act. The USA Freedom Act strikes the right balance between protecting the homeland from terror attacks while protecting the constitutional rights and liberty of the American people. I urge the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act swiftly.” With today’s vote the Senate cleared a critical procedural hurdle that sets up a vote on

Daines ‘Stands with Rand’ in Opposition to NSA Bulk Collection of Montanans’ Phone Records

May 20, 2015

Senator Steve Daines today stood alongside Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and called for the end of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk meta-data collection program. Below are key excerpts from Daines’ floor speech: “I know firsthand the power that big data holds – I also know the great risks that arise when this power is abused. There is a clear and direct threat to Americans’ civil liberties that comes with the mass collection of our personal information and phone records. “This program is a direct threat to our Constitutional rights. It has jeopardized our civil liberties with little proven effectiveness.

Daines: Court Ruling Bulk Phone Collection Illegal is Welcome News

May 7, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today welcomed a federal court ruling that the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk telephone metadata collection program is illegal and reaffirmed his commitment to ending the federal government’s mass collection of Montanans’ personal information. The New York-based 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled today that the NSA does not have the legal authority to widely collect Americans’ bulk telephony metadata. “Montanans have long known that the federal government’s mass collection of our personal data is an unacceptable overreach of power and today’s court ruling confirms it,” Daines stated. “It’s long past time