Pettersen proposes new House bill outlining stricter electronic data compliance rules

A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen aims to clarify the timelines for electronic service providers to respond to court orders requesting data, according to the U.S. Congress.

H.R.7445 entered the legislative process on Feb. 9, 2026, as part of the 119th Congress’s 2026 regular session. Here, we outline the main provisions based on the actual bill text, offering interpretation when helpful for clarity.

The legislation proposes amendments to Title 18 of the United States Code, specifying obligations and timelines for “covered providers” in responding to warrants or court orders that request electronic data or related records. Under this measure, covered providers are required to comply within 72 hours after receiving a court order, with an optional extension of as much as seven days for certain complex requests. The bill also enables individuals harmed by a provider’s failure to follow these timelines to seek civil damages. For the purposes of the bill, “covered provider” means any electronic communication or remote computing service with a user base of at least one million.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen (Democrat-CO-7th District) is the sole sponsor of H.R.7445.

To date, during the current session, Pettersen has introduced 18 other bills.

Congressional bills may be introduced in either the U.S. House or Senate, though only revenue bills must begin in the House. After introduction, legislation is sent to committees, which may hold hearings, propose amendments, and debate the bill before it proceeds for votes in each chamber. If approved by both chambers in identical form, the bill moves to the president, who decides to sign it into law or veto it. Congress conducts its work in two-year terms, each divided into two sessions. Official legislative records are managed by the U.S. Congress and are available on Congress.gov.

Brittany Pettersen is a Colorado representative born Dec. 6, 1981. She earned her B.A. from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2006 and previously served in the Colorado House (2013–2018) as well as the Colorado Senate (2019–2022) before her election to the 118th Congress in Jan. 2023.

Information for this report was gathered from the U.S. Congress. Source documents may be viewed here.