Patrick Leahy: “I am pleased my colleague from Maine, Senator Snowe, and my colleague from Washington State, Senator Cantwell, have…”

“I am pleased my colleague from Maine, Senator Snowe, and my colleague from Washington State, Senator Cantwell, have agreed to cosponsor this amendment. They both have been leaders of privacy issues. I appreciate their support. Here is what the amendment does: It addresses court discretion in several ways. It allows the court for cause to protect personal identifiers, including the debtor's or other person's name, Social Security account number, date of birth, driver's license number, passport number, employee or tax identification number, and unique biometric data. The personal identifiers protected under this provision are the same ones defined as 'means of identification' under the Identity Theft Deterrence Act of 1998. This definition is codified in Section 1028(d) of Title 18 of the criminal code. The amendment also allows the court, for cause, to seal or redact 'information that could cause undue annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or risk of injury to person or property.' This standard is drawn from the current civil procedure discovery rules. This change would allow the court to protect information, such as the home or employment address of a debtor because of a personal security risk. Unfortunately, many times that risk is from a former spouse or a stalker. It would also allow the court to protect other information normally considered private, such as medical information.”