# 119-hr-8470: Surveillance Accountability Act

119-hr-8470, Surveillance Accountability Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4] (R-KY); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8470
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8470
- Congress: 119
- Title: Surveillance Accountability Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-04-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4] (R-KY)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Creates a broad warrant requirement for government searches and access to third-party data.** This bill would require warrants based on probable cause for searches and would create a private civil right to sue for violations of Fourth Amendment rights.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Boebert, Lauren [R-CO-4] (R-CO), 2026-04-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Companies must get warrants for your data: benefit, high. This bill would generally require the government to get a warrant to access data held by companies. That includes bank and payment records, phone and internet metadata, cloud files, and other third-party consumer data. A company's cooperation would not remove the warrant rule unless the user gave a…
- Warrants required for most searches: benefit, high. This bill would make a warrant the normal rule for government searches. A neutral magistrate would need to find probable cause and describe where to search and what to seize. The bill would define "search" to cover location, communications, device activity, biometrics, behavioral signals, and finan…
- Right to sue for illegal searches: benefit, low. This bill would let a person sue anyone who, under U.S. law, violates their Fourth Amendment rights. Courts could award reasonable attorney fees to a prevailing plaintiff other than the United States. The bill would not let a federal employee sue the United States for acts within their official job.
- Warrantless exceptions and limits on tracking: mixed, high. This bill would list narrow cases where searches can be done without a warrant, like plain-view, ID checks, public posts, public records collection, consent searches, and exigent emergencies. It would also say those exceptions do not allow mass collection, retention, querying, or analysis of identi…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2395: SHORT Act
- 119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1846: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act
- 119-hr-1040: Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act
- 119-hr-925: Dismantle DEI Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-8470 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8470)

## Related
- [119-hr-2395: SHORT Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2395)
- [119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-740)
- [119-hr-1846: Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1846)
- [119-hr-1040: Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1040)
- [119-hr-925: Dismantle DEI Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-925)
- [119-hr-7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8470 (as of 2026-09-21).