I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3631

To prohibit the collection, by interactive video-related service providers, of 

personally identifiable information regarding the viewing choices of subscribers to such services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. SHERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To prohibit the collection, by interactive video-related service 

providers, of personally identifiable information regarding 

the viewing choices of subscribers to such services.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Television Viewer Pri5 vacy Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY OF USERS OF INTER7 ACTIVE VIDEO-RELATED SERVICES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—An interactive video-related serv9 ice provider may not collect, maintain, or disclose any per-
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1 sonal viewing information regarding a subscriber to the 

2 service that is personally identifiable, without the prior 

3 written or electronic consent of such subscriber, except—

4 (1) to render, or conduct a legitimate business 

5 activity related to, the service provided to the sub6 scriber by such provider, including billing for such 

7 service; or 

8 (2) as provided in subsection (c) or (d). 

9 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSENT.—Consent shall 

10 not be considered to be made by a subscriber, for purposes 

11 of this subsection, unless prior to the writing or electronic 

12 communication granting the consent, the subscriber is 

13 provided a separate statement that clearly and conspicu14 ously informs the subscriber of—

15 (1) the nature of personally identifiable infor16 mation collected or to be collected with respect to 

17 the subscriber and the nature and use of such infor18 mation; 

19 (2) the nature, frequency, and purpose of any 

20 disclosure that may be made of such information, in21 cluding an identification of the types of persons to 

22 whom the disclosure may be made; 

23 (3) the period during which such information 

24 will be maintained by the interactive video-related 

25 service provider; 
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1 (4) the limitations provided by this section with 

2 respect to the collection, maintenance, and disclosure 

3 of information by an interactive video-related service 

4 provider and the methods under subsections (f) and 

5 (g) by which such limitations may be enforced. 

6 If, after a statement referred to in the preceding sentence 

7 is provided to a subscriber, there is any change with re8 spect to any of the information described in paragraphs 

9 (1) through (5), such statement shall not be sufficient for 

10 purposes of this subsection. 

11 (c) DISCLOSURE PURSUANT TO COURT ORDER.—An 

12 interactive video-related service provider may disclose such 

13 personally identifiable personal viewing information, to the 

14 extent necessary to comply with a court order authorizing 

15 such disclosure to a governmental entity, but only if—

16 (1) the subscriber is notified of such order by 

17 the person to whom the order is directed; and 

18 (2) in the proceeding relevant to such court 

19 order—

20 (A) such entity offers clear and convincing 

21 evidence that the subject of the information is 

22 reasonably suspected of engaging in criminal 

23 activity and that the information disclosed 

24 would be material evidence in the case; and 
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1 (B) the subject of the information is af2 forded the opportunity to appear and contest 

3 such entity’s claim. 

4 (d) RIGHT OF SUBSCRIBER TO ACCESS INFORMA5 TION.—If personally identifiable viewing information re6 garding a subscriber to a service provided by an interactive 

7 video-related service provider is collected, the subscriber 

8 shall have access to such information for as long as such 

9 information is maintained. 

10 (e) DESTRUCTION OF INFORMATION.—An interactive 

11 video-related service provider shall destroy any personally 

12 identifiable personal viewing information that is collected 

13 by the service as soon as such information is no longer 

14 necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or 

15 maintained pursuant to subsection (a) and there are no 

16 pending requests or orders for access to such information 

17 under subsection (d) or pursuant to a court order. 

18 (f) FTC ENFORCEMENT.—

19 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT.—This section 

20 shall be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission 

21 as if the violation of this section were an unfair or 

22 deceptive act or practice proscribed under section 

23 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

24 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
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1 (2) ACTIONS BY FTC.—The Federal Trade 

2 Commission shall prevent any person from violating 

3 this section in the same manner, by the same means, 

4 and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties 

5 as though all applicable terms and provisions of the 

6 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

7 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this 

8 section. Any entity that violates any provision of this 

9 section is subject to the penalties and entitled to the 

10 privileges and immunities provided in the Federal 

11 Trade Commission Act in the same manner, by the 

12 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, power, 

13 and duties as though all applicable terms and provi14 sions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were in15 corporated into and made a part of this section. 

16 (3) JURISDICTION.—Notwithstanding section 

17 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), communications common carriers 

19 shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal 

20 Trade Commission for purposes of this section. 

21 (g) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the at23 torney general of a State has reason to believe that 

24 an interest of the residents of that State has been 

25 or is threatened or adversely affected by any inter-
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1 active video-related service provider who violates this 

2 section, the State may bring a civil action in a 

3 United States district court—

4 (A) to enjoin further violation of this sec5 tion by the defendant; or 

6 (B) to obtain damages on behalf of resi7 dents of the State, as provided in paragraph 

8 (2). 

9 (2) DAMAGES, FEES, AND COSTS.—In an action 

10 under paragraph (1)(B), the court may award—

11 (A) actual damages, but not less than liq12 uidated damages computed at the rate of $100 

13 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, 

14 whichever is higher; 

15 (B) punitive damages; and 

16 (C) reasonable attorneys’ fees and other 

17 litigation costs reasonably incurred. 

18 (h) OTHER REMEDIES.—The remedies provided by 

19 this Act shall be in addition to any other lawful remedy 

20 available to a subscriber to an interactive video-related 

21 service. 

22 (i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

23 following definitions shall apply: 

24 (1) INTERACTIVE VIDEO-RELATED SERVICES

25 PROVIDER.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘interactive video3 related services provider’’ means any person 

4 who has access to personal viewing information 

5 through—

6 (i) the provision of video programming 

7 (as such term is defined in section 602 of 

8 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

9 U.S.C. 522); 

10 (ii) services for recording of video pro11 gramming; 

12 (iii) navigation devices, computer soft13 ware, or information; 

14 (iv) converter boxes; 

15 (v) interactive communications equip16 ment; or 

17 (vi) other equipment that is used by 

18 consumers to access multichannel video 

19 programming or other services offered 

20 through a service providing multichannel 

21 video programming. 

22 (B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in23 clude any cable operator (as such term is de24 fined in section 602 of the Communications Act 

25 of 1934. 
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1 (2) LEGITIMATE BUSINESS ACTIVITY.—The 

2 term ‘‘legitimate business activity’’ means, with re3 spect to an interactive video-related service provider, 

4 any interaction between a consumer and the provider 

5 that is necessary to maintain the providing of a good 

6 or service requested by the consumer, including ap7 proving, guaranteeing, processing, administering, 

8 completing, enforcing, providing, or marketing a 

9 product, service, account, benefit, transaction, or 

10 payment method that is requested or approved by 

11 the consumer. 

12 (3) PERSONAL VIEWING INFORMATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘personal viewing information’’ means, with re14 spect to multichannel video programming provided 

15 to a person, information regarding the video pro16 gramming that the person views, displays, or 

17 records. 

18 (4) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA19 TION.—The term ‘‘personally identifiable informa20 tion’’ does not include any record of aggregate data 

21 that does not identify particular persons. 

22 (5) VIDEO PROGRAMMING.—The term ‘‘video 

23 programming’’ has the meaning given such term in 

24 section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934. 
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1 (j) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS.—This section 

2 supercedes any statute, regulation, or rule of a State or 

3 political subdivision of a State that expressly regulates the 

4 collection, maintenance, or disclosure of personal viewing 

5 information, regarding multichannel video programming, 

6 that is personally identifiable.

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