Subcommittee hearing spotlights hidden-camera abuses; chairwoman, experts press Congress for federal law

Chairwoman Mace, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, told a congressional hearing that she discovered hidden camera footage of herself and other women and urged passage of two bills to create new civil and criminal remedies.

"Liberty begins with the right to close a door," Chairwoman Mace said in her opening statement. "I speak not just as a lawmaker, but as a survivor." She told the panel she discovered on 2023-11-05 that a former fiancé, identified in her remarks as Patrick Bryant, had filmed women without their knowledge or consent and that one recording device contained "10,633 videos just on this one recording device." Mace said South Carolina law treats many such voyeurism offenses as misdemeanors carrying a maximum $500 fine.

The hearing brought three witnesses: Joseph LaSorsa, founder and president of LaSorsa and Associates; Laura Chadwick, president and CEO of Travel Technology Association ("TravelTech"); and Alan Butler, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). All three described how inexpensive, hard‑to‑detect consumer devices and gaps in…