For immediate release: November 4, 2015

Washington, D.C. — The EWG Action Fund and five other public interest groups today called on the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus to oppose a bill that would put asbestos victims at increased risk of identity theft and other cyber crimes.

In the letter to caucus chairs, the groups — the EWG Action Fund, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Public Citizen, the Center for Justice and Democracy, Essential Information and The Utility Reform Network — wrote:

If the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus is to maintain its credibility as a bipartisan group whose mission is to protect all Americans from the growing threats of identity theft and cyber attack, it must oppose any legislation that would put any American at increased risk.

The so-called FACT Act, H.R. 526, authored by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas.), a member of the Cybersecurity Caucus, would require disclosure of asbestos victims’ sensitive, personal information on the Internet when they seek compensation through the asbestos trust system. Their full names, birth years, work histories, medical conditions and parts of their Social Security numbers would be searchable in online databases.

Identity thieves and online hucksters scour the Internet in search of such data, according to

Attorney Glen Kopp, a partner with the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani and a former federal prosecutor. In an analysis of the FACT Act prepared for EWG Action Fund, Kopp wrote that the bill could give rise to “phishing scams – or schemes in which criminals impersonate a legitimate business or person in order to trick a victim into giving away personal information.” By posting personal data on the web, Kopp said, a criminal could obtain “the lure he or she needs for such an attack.”

Several members of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus are supporting Farenthold’s bill, including Reps. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio); Randy Forbes (R-Va); Trent Franks (R-Ariz.); Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); and John Ratcliffe (R-Texas).

“Congress needs to make it harder, not easier for cyber criminals to gain access to people’s sensitive information,” Reade Wilson, staff attorney for EWG Action Fund said. “The caucus should oppose the FACT Act because it would hand aggregated personally identifiable information to cyber criminals.”

Organizations that strongly oppose H.R. 526, include the American Veterans (AMVETS), the Association of the U.S. Navy, the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), the International Association of Fire Fighters, which represents the nation’s first responder community, the National Education Association, AFSCME and the AFL-CIO, among other groups.

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 EWG Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that is a separate sister organization of the Environmental Working Group. The mission of EWG Action Fund is to protect health and the environment by educating the public and lobbying on a wide range of environmental issues. Donations to EWG Action Fund are not tax-deductible.