Ubiquitous technical surveillance and digital force protection

(a) Ubiquitous technical surveillance functions (1) Responsibility Not later than April 1, 2027, the Secretary of Defense shall designate the head of an organization of the Department of Defense who shall be responsible for— (A) coordinating and directing the identification of vulnerabilities with respect to ubiquitous technical surveillance; (B) developing a plan and strategy for research, development, and procurement of secure communications and obfuscation technologies; and (C) developing ubiquitous technical surveillance training and techniques to enhance digital force protection. (2) Program of record Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan to establish a program of record to meet counter-ubiquitous technical surveillance and digital force protection needs across the Department of Defense. (b) Report Not later than December 1, 2027, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes— (1) the plan and strategy developed pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B); and (2) the identification of the organization of the Department of Defense that has been designated under subsection (a)(1). (c) Definitions In this section: (1) The term digital force protection means the policies, tools, and practices used to protect military personnel, operations, and critical assets from adversarial exploitation of the commercial digital surveillance economy, associated commercial data, and digital footprints. (2) The term ubiquitous technical surveillance means persistent, networked, or commercially-enabled technical means used to detect, identify, track, exploit, or monitor personnel, operations, equipment, or digital activities.