# 119-s-4946: Health and Location Data Protection Act of 2026

119-s-4946, Health and Location Data Protection Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4946
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4946
- Congress: 119
- Title: Health and Location Data Protection Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-13
- Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**Prohibits data brokers from selling individuals' health and location data.** The bill would block both sales by data brokers and sales to them, set HIPAA and news reporting exceptions, and create wide enforcement tools and funding to implement the rule. - Families and individuals: stronger privacy for health and location information and new private legal rights to seek injunctions, damages, restitution, and attorneys' fees. - Data brokers and other businesses: barred from selling covered location and health data, subject to civil penalties capped at 15% of the violator's ultimate parent company's prior 12-month revenue, with specific exclusions for HIPAA-covered uses and public news sources. - Enforcement and government: the Federal Trade Commission would enforce the rule with powers like injunctions, penalties, and data-deletion orders, state attorneys general could sue on behalf of residents, and private parties could bring federal actions. The bill would also authorize $1.0 billion for the FTC in fiscal year 2027 to carry out enforcement and rulemaking. *Would authorize $1.0 billion in funding for the Federal Trade Commission in FY2027, increasing federal spending.*

## Cosponsors (4)

- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-07-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-07-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Ban on selling health and location data: benefit, high. This bill would make it unlawful for data brokers to sell or share people's location or health information. Health data would include searches, treatment details, AI prompts, and pregnancy or miscarriage information. The ban would cover data that is declared or inferred and would let the FTC add ot…
- FTC rulemaking and $1 billion funding: benefit, high. The FTC would have to write rules defining the term "data" and finish a final rule within 180 days after enactment. The definition would include information linked or reasonably linkable to a person or to groups who share a residence or IP address. The bill would also appropriate $1 billion to the…
- Limited preemption of state privacy laws: benefit, low. This bill would only block state or local laws that require disclosures the Act forbids. Other state and local privacy and disclosure laws would remain in effect.
- New enforcement powers and private lawsuits: mixed, medium. This bill would let the FTC treat violations as unfair or deceptive acts and use its full enforcement powers, including seeking deletion, injunctions, fines, refunds, and disgorgement. It would also let people sue in federal court and let State attorneys general bring parens patriae actions for res…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4946 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4946)

## Related
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4946 (as of 2026-09-10).