Safe Cloud Storage Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7834 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7834

  To limit liability for certain entities storing child sexual abuse
     material for law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2026

 Ms. Lee of Florida (for herself, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Cohen,
and Mr. Knott) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To limit liability for certain entities storing child sexual abuse
     material for law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Cloud Storage Act''.

SEC. 2. STORAGE OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND CHILD OBSCENITY.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008
(34 U.S.C. 21101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 201 the
following:

``SEC. 202. MODERNIZING LAW ENFORCEMENT'S ABILITY TO STORE CHILD
              PORNOGRAPHY AND CHILD OBSCENITY AND LIMITED LIABILITY FOR
              APPROVED VENDORS.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Approved vendor.--The term `approved vendor' means an
        organization, corporation, or entity that--
                    ``(A) offers digital storage services, including
                remote or cloud-based storage, and analytical and
                forensic tool processing support; and
                    ``(B) has been contractually retained by a covered
                agency to support the duties of such agency by--
                            ``(i) storing digital child pornography or
                        child obscenity;
                            ``(ii) making such child pornography or
                        child obscenity available to the contracting
                        agency, or any law enforcement or prosecutorial
                        agency designated by the contracting agency,
                        upon request; and
                            ``(iii) providing maintenance, technical
                        and analytical assistance, and forensic tool
                        processing support upon request by the
                        contracting agency.
            ``(2) Child pornography.--The term `child pornography' has
        the meaning given that term in section 2256(8) of title 18,
        United States Code.
            ``(3) Child obscenity.--The term `child obscenity' has the
        meaning given that term in section 21101(2) of title 34, United
        States Code.
            ``(4) Covered agency.--The term `covered agency' means a
        United States Federal, State, or local law enforcement or
        prosecutorial agency.
            ``(5) Local.--The term `local' means any political
        subdivision of a State.
            ``(6) State.--The term `State' means any of the 50 States
        of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United
        States, Guam, American Samoa, or the Commonwealth of the
        Northern Mariana Islands.
    ``(b) Limited Liability for Approved Vendors.--
            ``(1) Limited liability for law enforcement approved
        vendors.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a civil claim or
        criminal charge may not be brought in any Federal or State
        court against an approved vendor relating to the approved
        vendor's performance of any contractual obligation or service
        described in subsection (a)(1).
            ``(2) Intentional, reckless, or other misconduct.--A civil
        claim or criminal charge may be brought in any Federal or State
        court against an approved vendor if the approved vendor--
                    ``(A) engaged in--
                            ``(i) intentional misconduct; or
                            ``(ii) negligent conduct; or
                    ``(B) acted, or failed to act--
                            ``(i) with actual malice;
                            ``(ii) with reckless disregard to a
                        substantial risk of causing injury without
                        legal justification; or
                            ``(iii) for a purpose unrelated to the
                        performance of any responsibility or function
                        described in subsection (a)(1)(B).
    ``(c) Vendor Cybersecurity Requirements.--With respect to any child
pornography or child obscenity stored, maintained, or processed by an
approved vendor, such approved vendor shall--
            ``(1) secure such child pornography or child obscenity in a
        manner that is consistent with the most recent version of the
        Cybersecurity Framework developed by the National Institute of
        Standards and Technology, or any successor thereto;
            ``(2) only access the child pornography or child obscenity
        upon consent of the law enforcement or prosecutorial agency
        contracting the service and for the purpose of providing
        maintenance, technical assistance, and forensic tool processing
        support in the cloud;
            ``(3) minimize the number of employees that may be able to
        obtain access to such child pornography or child obscenity and
        maintain a list of employees who have obtained such access;
            ``(4) employ end-to-end encryption for data storage and
        transfer functions, or an equivalent technological standard;
            ``(5) undergo an independent annual cybersecurity audit to
        determine whether such child pornography or child obscenity is
        secured as required by paragraph (1), including by assessing
        compliance with the National Institute of Standards and
        Technology Special Publication 800-53, Revision 5 (relating to
        security and privacy controls for information systems and
        organizations) or any successor documents or revisions; and
            ``(6) promptly address all issues identified by an audit
        described in paragraph (5).
    ``(d) Evidence Storage.--Any covered agency that stores child
pornography and child obscenity pursuant to a contract with an approved
vendor shall retain such evidence--
            ``(1) in compliance with the security policy of the
        Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the Federal
        Bureau of Investigation, or any other similar and appropriate
        division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
            ``(2) for a period consistent with the evidence retention
        requirements applicable to the investigating or prosecuting
        covered agency under the relevant Federal, State, or local law,
        rule of criminal procedure, or prosecutorial policy; or
            ``(3) in the absence of such law, rule, or policy, for a
        period not less than the applicable statute of limitations or
        the duration of any sentence imposed, including the period of
        post-conviction review.
    ``(e) Additional Requirements for Approved Vendors.--
            ``(1) Location of data.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
                subparagraph (B), each approved vendor shall ensure
                that child pornography and child obscenity stored
                pursuant to this section remains in the United States.
                    ``(B) Exception.--Child pornography and child
                obscenity under this section may be transferred outside
                the United States only with the express consent of the
                contracting covered agency if such agency deems the
                transfer necessary for investigative purposes.
            ``(2) Notification letter.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Approved vendors shall file a
                notification letter with the Criminal Division of the
                Department of Justice not later than 30 days after
                entering into a contract described in subsection
                (a)(1)(B).
                    ``(B) Contents.--The notification letter described
                in subparagraph (A) shall include the entity name and
                point of contact information of the approved vendor,
                the name of the contracting covered agency, the period
                of performance of the contract, and an acknowledgment
                by the approved vendor that the approved vendor will
                notify the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of
                the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice of
                any changes to the information in the letter.
            ``(3) Breach of contract.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a covered agency fails to
                make required payment under a contract, breaches any
                material term of such contract, or otherwise terminates
                such contract without establishing lawful transfer of
                the evidence, the approved vendor shall, not later than
                30 days after the failure, breach, or termination,
                notify the Criminal Division of the Department of
                Justice in the case of a breach by a Federal agency, or
                the appropriate State attorney general in the case of a
                breach by a State or local agency.
                    ``(B) Maintenance of evidence.--Upon making a
                notification under subparagraph (A), the approved
                vendor shall continue to preserve and maintain the
                integrity of the evidence until a prompt and lawful
                transfer of custody occurs to the Criminal Division of
                the Department of Justice or another Federal, State, or
                local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction.
    ``(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit--
            ``(1) bona fide use by the contracting covered agency of
        child pornography or child obscenity being stored by the
        approved vendor, which includes providing such child
        pornography or child obscenity to any other party as necessary
        for an investigation or prosecution; or
            ``(2) the obligation of the contracting covered agency to
        comply with a constitutional or statutory obligation, court
        order, or request from a victim made pursuant to section
        3509(m)(3) of title 18, United States Code.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--Section 1(b) of the PROTECT Our Children
Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-401; 122 Stat. 4229) is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 201 the following:

``Sec. 202. Modernizing law enforcement's ability to store child
                            pornography and child obscenity and limited
                            liability for approved vendors.''.
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