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To amend title 11, United States Code, to account for the protection of genetic information in bankruptcy.
Summary
This bill amends the federal bankruptcy code to add protections for genetic information. Under current law, bankruptcy trustees can sell a debtor's property, including personal data. This bill prohibits the sale or lease of genetic information unless all affected individuals affirmatively consent in writing. The bill also requires that anyone whose genetic information might be sold or leased receives actual prior written notice, and mandates that any genetic information not sold must be securely deleted using approved data-sanitization methods. The changes apply to bankruptcy cases filed before and after the law's enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Cline, Ben [R-VA-6] (R-VA)
3 cosponsors
- Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] (R-WI)
- Rep. Harris, Mark [R-NC-8] (R-NC)
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA)
Actions (2)
- Jul 17, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jul 17, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2025
Mr. Cline (for himself and Ms. Lofgren) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 11, United States Code, to account for the protection of genetic information in bankruptcy.
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 “Don’t Sell My DNA Act”.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 11, UNITED STATES CODE, RELATING TO PROTECTION OF GENETIC INFORMATION.
(a) In General.—Title 11, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in section 101(41A)(A)—
(A) in clause (v), by striking “or” at the end; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(vii) genetic information, as defined in section 201 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff); or”;
(2) in section 363—
(A) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking clause
(ii) and inserting the following:
“(ii) finding that no showing was made that such sale or such lease would violate applicable nonbankruptcy law, provided, however, that no use, sale, or lease shall be approved if the personally identifiable information consists, in whole or in part, of genetic information (as defined in section 201 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff)), unless all affected persons, including non-parties, have affirmatively consented in writing to such use, sale, or lease after the commencement of the case.”; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(q) Any use, sale, or lease of genetic information (as defined in section 201 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff)) shall not be considered final and valid unless each person whose genetic information would be subject to such use, sale, or lease is provided with actual prior written notice of such use, sale, or lease.”; and
(3) in section 1107, by adding at the end the following:
“(c) A trustee serving in a case under this chapter or debtor in possession shall delete, using methods proscribed by the court (which may include the Guidelines for Media Sanitization issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST Special Publication 800-88), or any successor thereto), any genetic information (as defined in section 201 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff)) that was property of the estate and that was not subject to a sale, lease, or other disposition under section 363 of this title.”.
(b) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section—
(1) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) shall apply to any case under title 11, United States Code, that is—
(A) pending as of the date of enactment of this Act; or
(B) commenced or reopened on or after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>
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