This bill restricts how government agencies can use administrative subpoenas to obtain customer communications and records from service providers like phone and internet companies. The legislation requires that any subpoena must identify a specific person by name, address, account number, or similar identifier rather than allowing bulk collection of records. It also bars the government from using subpoenas to investigate or retaliate against people engaged in constitutionally protected activities like free speech, religious practice, assembly, or petition. Additionally, the bill requires government agencies to certify under penalty of perjury that their subpoenas are being used for legitimate purposes and not to target protected activities, and it mandates that federal agencies annually publish public reports detailing how many administrative subpoenas they issued and how many accounts they accessed. The bill affects federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies that currently use subpoenas to obtain customer information, and potentially provides greater privacy protections to individuals whose digital communications are targeted by government requests.
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