A bill for an act relating to parties responsible for the confidentiality of information of participants in the address confidentiality program.

2025-2026 Regular Session

The bill clarifies who must protect ACP participant confidentiality, how they must safeguard data, and how breaches are handled and enforced.

Subcommittee Meeting: 02/03/2026 12:30PM RM 304 (Cancelled).

#confidentiality #personalinformation #recordsandpublications

Summary of Bill: HSB 576 (Iowa) – 2025-2026 Session

Purpose and intent

The bill addresses confidentiality obligations related to information of participants in the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP).

Its core aim is to designate which parties are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of participant information, and to clarify duties and liabilities associated with protecting this information.

Key provisions and changes

Confidentiality obligations: The bill specifies entities or individuals who must uphold the confidentiality of ACP participant information. This typically includes program administrators and possibly other specified state or local agencies, though the exact list of responsible parties is defined in the bill.

Responsibilities and duties: It outlines the standards and procedures these parties must follow to preserve confidentiality. This may cover handling, storage, transmission, and disposal of confidential data, as well as internal controls and access limitations.

Liability and enforcement: The legislation is expected to establish accountability for breaches or failures to protect information, potentially detailing remedies, penalties, or remedial actions.

Coordination with existing statutes: The bill likely aligns ACP confidentiality obligations with overarching state privacy, civil rights, or anti-stalking/harassment statutes, ensuring consistency with current legal frameworks.

Scope of information: It may define what constitutes confidential information within the ACP, including participant identifiers, addresses, and related contact information.

Who would be affected

ACP participants: Individuals enrolled in the Address Confidentiality Program stand to benefit from clarified and possibly strengthened protections for their personal information.

Program administrators and covered agencies: State or local agencies and any identified entities responsible for ACP administration would bear formal confidentiality duties.

Employees and contractors: Persons with access to ACP data may be subject to stricter access controls and privacy training requirements.

Potentially the public: The public may see changes in how ACP data is shared or disclosed, with stricter limits on access unless exemptions apply.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Introduced and referred: The bill was introduced on 2026-01-20 and referred to the State Government committee.

Subcommittee actions: A subcommittee was scheduled for 02/03/2026 at 12:30 PM (Room 304), but the meeting was cancelled. The subsequent status would depend on rescheduling or subsequent committee activity.

Status as of latest action: Pending further actions in the State Government committee or floor consideration. No final passage or veto information is available from the provided data.

Notes and context

The bill appears to focus narrowly on governance around confidentiality rather than broad data privacy reform. The precise list of responsible parties, enforcement mechanisms, and any exemptions would be defined in the text of the bill itself.

If you need, I can pull the bill’s full text or committee memo to extract exact definitions, listed responsible entities, penalties, and effective dates for a more granular summary.