The nation bans mass watching tools by the state.
H.R. 9800 — Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act · Filed by Tim Burchett (R-TN) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill stops federal agencies from buying watching systems. These systems identify or track people. They include face readers, license plate readers, and body scanners. States and cities cannot use federal money for these tools. Any data collected in violation gets deleted within 30 days. That data cannot be used in court.
Who it affects
Citizens gain protection from mass watching by the state. Federal agencies, states, and cities are affected by the ban.
One thing to notice
The bill does not address data collected before it starts. Old watching databases may still exist. The bill also does not stop private companies from selling watching data to the state.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 8 Republicans.
- Jul 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- mass watching — Using machines to watch or track many people at once.
- face readers — Technology that identifies people by scanning their faces.
- body scanners — Machines that identify people using fingerprints, eyes, or other body parts.
- federal agencies — Departments and offices that work for the nation's government.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,457 characters) on Sep 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,975 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-25.
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