WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11) joined Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and colleagues in introducing the Reducing the Effects of the Cyberattack on OPM Victims Enduring Response and Protecting Identifiable Information (RECOVER PII) Act, legislation to provide lifetime identity protection coverage for federal employees and contractors whose personal information was compromised in the 2015 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) cyberattacks.
The legislation would provide lifetime identity protection services for those affected and reimburse eligible federal employees and contractors for privacy software and other tools that help remove their personal information from online data brokers.
In 2015, OPM disclosed two cyberattacks that exposed the personal information of approximately 22.1 million federal employees, contractors, and others. The stolen information included Social Security numbers, addresses, financial information, security clearance files, and background investigation records. The breaches, widely attributed to actors linked to the Chinese government, continue to pose risks to both affected individuals and U.S. national security.
Congress previously approved ten years of identity protection coverage for victims of the breach, but that protection is set to expire on September 30, 2026. The RECOVER PII Act would extend those protections for life and help affected individuals safeguard their personal information against future exploitation.
Read the full bill here.
