I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8531 

To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate regulations 

relating to the disclosure of certain commercial data, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2024 

Mr. FOSTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate regulations relating to the disclosure of certain 

commercial data, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Designing Accounting 

5 Safeguards to Help Broaden Oversight And Regulations 

6 on Data Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘DASHBOARD Act of 

7 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

5 (2) ISSUER.—The term ‘‘issuer’’ has the mean6 ing given the term in section 3(a) of the Securities 

7 and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 

8 (3) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘com9 mercial data operator’’, ‘‘user’’, and ‘‘user data’’ 

10 have the meaning given those terms, respectively, 

11 under section 13(s)(1) of the Securities Exchange 

12 Act of 1934. 

13 SEC. 3. COMMERCIAL DATA OPERATORS. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A commercial data operator 

16 shall— 

17 (A) on a routine basis, and not less fre18 quently than once every 90 days— 

19 (i) provide each user of the commer20 cial data operator with an assessment of 

21 the economic value that the commercial 

22 data operator places on the data of that 

23 user; and 

24 (ii) in a clear and conspicuous man25 ner, in accordance with paragraph (3), 


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1 identify to each user of the commercial 

2 data operator— 

3 (I) the types of data collected 

4 from users of the commercial data op5 erator, whether by the commercial 

6 data operator or another person pur7 suant to an agreement with the com8 mercial data operator; and 

9 (II) the ways that the data of a 

10 user of the commercial data operator 

11 are used if the use is not directly or 

12 exclusively related to the online serv13 ice that the commercial data operator 

14 provides to the user; and 

15 (B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

16 provide a user of the commercial data operator 

17 with the ability to delete all data, in the aggre18 gate and for an individual field, that the com19 mercial data operator possesses, or maintains 

20 control or access to with respect to the user, 

21 through— 

22 (i) a single setting; or 

23 (ii) another clear and conspicuous 

24 mechanism by which the user may make 

25 such a deletion. 


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1 (2) DELETION EXCEPTIONS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A commercial data op3 erator shall comply with a user directive to de4 lete, in whole or in part, the data of the user 

5 except— 

6 (i) in cases where there is a legal obli7 gation of the commercial data operator to 

8 maintain the data; 

9 (ii) for the establishment, exercise, or 

10 defense of legal claims; or 

11 (iii) if the data is necessary to detect 

12 security incidents, protect against mali13 cious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activ14 ity, or assist in the prosecution of those re15 sponsible for such activity. 

16 (B) RETENTION.—A commercial data op17 erator may not retain any more user data than 

18 is necessary to carry out an activity described 

19 in clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A). 

20 (3) AVAILABILITY.—A commercial data oper21 ator shall ensure that all disclosures required under 

22 paragraph (1) are available to a user of the commer23 cial data operator— 


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1 (A) on and after the date on which the 

2 commercial data operator makes the identifica3 tion; and 

4 (B) through any normal mechanism by 

5 which a user may interact with the online serv6 ice provided by the commercial data operator. 

7 (4) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC8 TICES.— 

9 (A) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC10 TICES.—A violation of this subsection shall be 

11 treated as a violation of a rule defining an un12 fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 

13 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 

14 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

15 (B) POWERS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS16 SION.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

18 Commission shall enforce this subsection in 

19 the same manner, by the same means, and 

20 with the same jurisdiction, powers, and du21 ties as though all applicable terms and pro22 visions of the Federal Trade Commission 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor24 porated into and made a part of this sub25 section. 


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1 (ii) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.— 

2 Any person who violates this subsection 

3 shall be subject to the penalties and enti4 tled to the privileges and immunities pro5 vided in the Federal Trade Commission 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis9 sion shall promulgate regulations carrying out subsection 

10 (a). 

11 SEC. 4. SEC DISCLOSURES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Securities Ex13 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by add14 ing at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(s) DISCLOSURE RELATING TO AGGREGATE VALUE

16 OF USER DATA HELD BY COMMERCIAL DATA OPERA17 TORS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL DATA OPERATOR.—The 

20 term ‘commercial data operator’ means an enti21 ty acting in its capacity as a consumer online 

22 services provider or data broker that— 

23 ‘‘(i) generates a material amount of 

24 revenue directly from the use, collection, 


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1 processing, sale, or sharing of the user 

2 data; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) has more than 100,000,000 

4 unique monthly visitors or users in the 

5 United States for a majority of months 

6 during the previous 1-year period. 

7 ‘‘(B) USER.—The term ‘user’ means an in8 dividual consumer who uses an online service 

9 designed for consumer use by a commercial 

10 data operator. 

11 ‘‘(C) USER DATA.—The term ‘user data’ 

12 means any information that identifies, relates 

13 to, describes, is capable of being associated 

14 with, or could reasonably be linked with an in15 dividual user, whether directly submitted to the 

16 commercial data operator by the user or derived 

17 from the observed activity of the user by the 

18 commercial data operator. 

19 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE.—Each issuer that is, or is a 

20 consolidated subsidiary of, a commercial data oper21 ator and is required to file an annual or quarterly 

22 report under subsection (a) shall disclose in that re23 port the aggregate value, if material, of— 

24 ‘‘(A) user data that the commercial data 

25 operator holds; 


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1 ‘‘(B) contracts with third parties for the 

2 collection of user data through the online serv3 ice provided by the commercial data operator; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(C) any other item that the Commission 

6 determines, by rule, is necessary or useful for 

7 the protection of investors and in the public in8 terest. 

9 ‘‘(3) VALUATION METHODOLOGY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in 

11 consultation with appropriate standards setting 

12 organizations, shall develop a method or meth13 ods for calculating the value of user data re14 quired to be disclosed under paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the 

16 method under subparagraph (A), the Commis17 sion shall promote comparability in calculating 

18 the value of data across commercial data opera19 tors that utilize user data in a similar manner 

20 while taking into account the potential need to 

21 develop distinct methods for calculating the 

22 value of data for different uses, sectors, and 

23 business models.’’. 

24 (b) QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE.—Not later than 1 

25 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 


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1 Commission shall amend section 229.306 of title 17, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations, to require a commercial data oper3 ator that is an issuer subject to section 13 or 15(d) of 

4 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m, 

5 78o(d)) to provide quantitative and qualitative disclosures 

6 about the value of user data held, including— 

7 (1) technical and legal measures in place to 

8 protect user data held by the commercial data oper9 ator; 

10 (2) an assessment of financial and legal risks 

11 associated with storing the type and quantity of user 

12 data held by the commercial data operator; 

13 (3) each source of user data held by the com14 mercial data operator, whether by sale, a direct con15 sumer relationship, an indirect consumer relation16 ship, or other means; 

17 (4) each discrete revenue generating operation 

18 of the commercial data operator and any subsidiary 

19 or affiliate that relies on user data; 

20 (5) the entry into any contract valued at more 

21 than $10,000,000 with a third party for the collec22 tion, licensing, or sharing by the third party pursu23 ant to an agreement with the commercial data oper24 ator; 


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1 (6) the amount of revenue derived from obtain2 ing, collecting, processing, selling, using or sharing 

3 user data during the reporting period; 

4 (7) how changes in the measurement of aggre5 gate fair value of user data affect the reported per6 formance and cash flows of the issuer; and 

7 (8) any acquisition of user data in the pre8 ceding reporting period valued at more than 

9 $100,000,000. 

10 (c) REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

14 and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

15 on Financial Services of the House of Representa16 tives a report on— 

17 (A) the nature, timing, and extent of the 

18 disclosure practices of commercial data opera19 tors; 

20 (B) an assessment of the valuation meth21 odologies and practices employed by commercial 

22 data operators in developing and submitting 

23 disclosures to the public; 

24 (C) an evaluation of the methods of deliv25 ery and presentation of the disclosures required 


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1 by this Act, and the amendments made by this 

2 Act; and 

3 (D) recommendations for the improvement 

4 of the methods described in subparagraph (C), 

5 including developing standards to enhance com6 parability and utility for investors. 

7 (2) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date on which the report required under 

9 paragraph (1) is submitted, the Commission shall 

10 promulgate a proposed regulation implementing the 

11 recommendations described in paragraph (1)(D). 

Æ 


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