U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced that their Safe Cloud Storage Act has advanced unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The proposed legislation would provide limited liability protections to vendors approved by law enforcement for securely storing and transferring child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to support investigations into child sexual exploitation.
“Those helping law enforcement in the fight against child sexual exploitation must be able to securely store evidence of these horrific crimes,” said Senator Blackburn. “Our bipartisan Safe Cloud Storage Act would ensure investigators can securely handle and store CSAM evidence in the cloud by providing limited liability protections, and I’m pleased it is one step closer to becoming law.”
“We must do everything we can to protect our children from online exploitation and abuse,” said Senator Klobuchar. “Our commonsense, bipartisan bill would improve investigations and prosecutions by allowing law enforcement to safely store and transmit evidence using cloud systems – saving time and resources.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.).
The Safe Cloud Storage Act builds on Senator Blackburn’s previous REPORT Act, which was signed into law in 2024. That legislation provided similar liability protections for National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)-contracted vendors handling CSAM for investigative purposes. The new act aims to extend these protections to other third-party vendors assisting law enforcement, provided they adhere to strict cybersecurity standards. Vendors would not be protected if they engage in intentional misconduct, negligence, or malicious acts.
This measure has received endorsements from organizations such as Raven, NCMEC, Thorn, International Justice Mission, Fraternal Order of Police, Child Rescue Coalition, National District Attorneys Association, Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, and National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Jennifer Dunton, Director of Legislative Affairs at Raven stated: “The Safe Cloud Storage Act is a critical step forward in modernizing how law enforcement investigates child sexual exploitation. By authorizing secure, cloud-based storage for CSAM evidence, this bill ensures that investigators can move cases faster, identify victims sooner, and hold offenders accountable, all while maintaining the highest cybersecurity standards. RAVEN strongly supports this effort to give law enforcement the 21st-century tools they need to protect children online.”
Michelle DeLaune, CEO of NCMEC added: “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is proud to support the Safe Cloud Storage Act and thanks Senator Blackburn, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Blumenthal for introducing this important piece of legislation. The bill will modernize law enforcement’s use of advanced technologies, enabling more streamlined investigations of cases of child sexual exploitation. We look forward to continuing our work with the bill’s sponsors to see this legislation advance.”
Emily Slifer from Thorn commented: “Thorn is proud to endorse the Safe Cloud Storage Act and is grateful for Senator Blackburn and Senator Klobuchar for their leadership on this legislation. This Act would make a critical legal update that would allow law enforcement to safely use cloud storage in the process of investigating child sexual exploitation and abuse victims. This update will allow law enforcement to more efficiently investigate these crimes at scale and protect children from sexual abuse.”
Nate King from International Justice Mission said: “The Safe Cloud Storage Act will modernize and accelerate CSAM investigations conducted by law enforcement. This needed legislation builds upon recently increased reporting requirements through the REPORT Act by ensuring that law enforcement-approved vendors who assist in CSAM investigations can legally and securely store evidence that is critical to holding perpetrators accountable, including U.S.-based CSAM offenders who direct and consume live child sexual abuse of children in countries like the Philippines.”
Patrick Yoes from Fraternal Order of Police stated: “The National Fraternal Order of Police strongly supports Safe Cloud Storage Act. This important piece of legislation modernizes how critical digital evidence is securely stored and shared, helping officers investigate serious crimes more efficiently while protecting victims’ privacy. The FOP is grateful for Senator Blackburn’s leadership alongside Senators Klobuchar, Cornyn, Blumenthal, Britt, Coons, and Lee in ensuring police have the reliable secure tools we need to keep pace with increasingly digital threats to public safety.”
Greg Schiller from Child Rescue Coalition remarked: “At Child Rescue Coalition our innovative technology empowers law enforcement to identify and arrest child predators faster and more effectively. The SCSA strengthens and modernizes how law enforcement can securely store shareand interact with CSAM acceleratingthe identificationof offendersandtherescueofvictims.Thisbillreinforcestrustaccountabilityandinnovationensuringcritical safeguardsevolvealongsidethetechnologylawenforcementreliesoneverydaytoprotectchildren.”
Nelson Bunn from National District Attorneys Association noted: “The Safe Cloud Storage Act equips prosecutorsandlawenforcementwiththemodernsecuretoolsthatarenecessarytosafelystoreandanalyzeCSAMwhilemaintainingthestrictestandhigheststandardsofsecurityandaccountability.Thislegislationstrengthensinvestigationsprotectsvictimsandensuresthathighlysensitiveevidenceisproperlystored.”
Senator Blackburn has previously supported causes related to veterans’ care as well as online protections for children according to her official website. She represents Tennessee as its first female senator and serves on several key committees, including Judiciary where she focuses on issues such as consumer protection technology data privacy health care affordability border security lower taxes limited government and authored bills addressing child online safety.