II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1815 

To require data brokers to establish procedures to ensure the accuracy of 

collected personal information, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

FRANKEN, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require data brokers to establish procedures to ensure 

the accuracy of collected personal information, 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 ‘‘Data Broker Account5 ability and Transparency Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 means the Federal Trade Commission. 


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1 (2) COVERED DATA BROKER.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

3 data broker’’ includes all data brokers except 

4 those data brokers excepted under subpara5 graph (B). 

6 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The Commission may 

7 except a data broker if the Commission con8 siders, by rule, a data broker outside the scope 

9 of this Act, such as a data broker who proc10 esses information collected by or on behalf of 

11 and received from or on behalf of a non12 affiliated third party concerning an individual 

13 who is a customer or an employee of that third 

14 party to enable that third party, directly or 

15 through parties acting on its behalf, to provide 

16 benefits for its employees or directly transact 

17 business with its customers. 

18 (3) DATA BROKER.—The term ‘‘data broker’’ 

19 means a commercial entity that collects, assembles, 

20 or maintains personal information concerning an in21 dividual who is not a customer or an employee of 

22 that entity in order to sell the information or provide 

23 third-party access to the information. 


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1 (4) NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The term 

2 ‘‘non-public information’’ means information about 

3 an individual that is— 

4 (A) of a private nature; 

5 (B) not available to the general public; and 

6 (C) not obtained from a public record. 

7 (5) PUBLIC RECORD INFORMATION.—The term 

8 ‘‘public record information’’ means information 

9 about an individual that has been obtained originally 

10 from records of a Federal, State, or local govern11 ment entity that are available for public inspection. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON OBTAINING OR SOLICITATION TO 

13 OBTAIN PERSONAL INFORMATION BY FALSE 

14 PRETENSES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered data broker may not 

16 obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or 

17 attempt to cause to be disclosed to any person, personal 

18 information or any other information relating to any per19 son by making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement 

20 or representation to any person, including by providing 

21 any document to any person, that the covered data broker 

22 knows or should know— 

23 (1) to be forged, counterfeit, lost, stolen, or 

24 fraudulently obtained; or 


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1 (2) contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent 

2 statement or representation. 

3 (b) SOLICITATION.—A covered data broker may not 

4 request a person to obtain personal information, or any 

5 other information, relating to any other person if the cov6 ered data broker knows or should know that the person 

7 to whom the request is made will obtain or attempt to 

8 obtain that information in the manner described in sub9 section (a). 

10 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING ACCURACY OF AND 

11 ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION. 

12 (a) ACCURACY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), a covered data broker shall establish pro15 cedures to ensure, to the maximum extent prac16 ticable, the accuracy of— 

17 (A) the personal information it collects, as18 sembles, or maintains; and 

19 (B) any other information it collects, as20 sembles, or maintains that specifically identifies 

21 an individual, unless the information only iden22 tifies an individual’s name or address. 

23 (2) EXCEPTION.—A covered data broker may 

24 collect or maintain information that may be inac25 curate with respect to a particular individual if that 


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1 information is being collected or maintained solely 

2 for the purpose of— 

3 (A) indicating whether there may be a dis4 crepancy or irregularity in the personal infor5 mation that is associated with an individual; 

6 (B) helping to identify, or to authenticate 

7 the identity of, an individual; or 

8 (C) helping to protect against or inves9 tigate fraud or other unlawful conduct. 

10 (b) CONSUMER ACCESS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (4), a 

12 covered data broker shall provide an individual a 

13 means to review any personal information or other 

14 information that specifically identifies that indi15 vidual, that the covered data broker collects, assem16 bles, or maintains on that individual. 

17 (2) REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—The means for 

18 review under paragraph (1) shall be provided— 

19 (A) at an individual’s request; 

20 (B) after verifying the identity of the indi21 vidual; 

22 (C) at least 1 time per year; 

23 (D) at no cost to the individual; and 


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1 (E) in a format that can be readily under2 stood by a consumer, as determined by the 

3 Commission. 

4 (3) PERIOD OF REVIEW.—A covered data 

5 broker shall provide an individual the means re6 quired under paragraph (1) within such period after 

7 receiving a request from such individual as the Com8 mission shall determine, by rule, is appropriate. 

9 (4) EXCEPTIONS.—The Commission may, by 

10 rule, establish such exceptions to paragraph (1) as 

11 the Commission considers appropriate, such as for 

12 child protection, law enforcement, fraud prevention, 

13 or other government purposes. 

14 (5) LIMITATION ON USE OF VERIFYING INFOR15 MATION.—If a covered data broker collects informa16 tion from an individual to verify the identity of the 

17 individual under paragraph (2)(B) that the data 

18 broker did not have before such collection, the data 

19 broker may not use such information for any pur20 pose other than for purposes of verifying the identity 

21 of the individual under such paragraph. 

22 (c) DISPUTED INFORMATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual whose per24 sonal information is maintained by a covered data 

25 broker may dispute the accuracy of any information 


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1 described under subsection (b)(1) by requesting, in 

2 writing, that the covered data broker correct the in3 formation. 

4 (2) CORRECTION REQUIREMENTS.—A covered 

5 data broker, after verifying the identity of an indi6 vidual making a request under paragraph (1) to cor7 rect information, and unless there are reasonable 

8 grounds to believe the request is frivolous or irrele9 vant, shall— 

10 (A) with regard to public record informa11 tion— 

12 (i) inform the individual of the source 

13 of the information and, if reasonably avail14 able, where to direct the individual’s re15 quest for correction; or 

16 (ii) if the individual provides proof 

17 that the public record has been corrected 

18 or that the covered data broker was report19 ing the information incorrectly, correct the 

20 inaccuracy in the covered data broker’s 

21 records; and 

22 (B) with regard to non-public informa23 tion— 


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1 (i) note the information that is dis2 puted, including the individual’s written re3 quest; 

4 (ii) if the information can be inde5 pendently verified, use the procedures es6 tablished under subsection (a) to independ7 ently verify the information; and 

8 (iii) if the covered data broker was re9 porting the information incorrectly, correct 

10 the inaccuracy in the covered data broker’s 

11 records. 

12 (3) PERIOD OF CORRECTION.—In a case in 

13 which a covered data broker is subject to a require14 ment under paragraph (2) due to a request made by 

15 an individual under paragraph (1), such covered 

16 data broker shall take such action as may be re17 quired to satisfy such requirement within such pe18 riod as the Commission shall determine, by rule, is 

19 appropriate. 

20 (d) NOTICE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered data broker shall 

22 maintain an Internet website and place a clear and 

23 conspicuous notice on that Internet website instruct24 ing an individual how— 


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1 (A) to review information under subsection 

2 (b)(1); and 

3 (B) to express a preference under sub4 section (e)(2). 

5 (2) FORM.—A covered data broker shall ensure 

6 that the notice the covered data broker places under 

7 paragraph (1) conforms to such model form as the 

8 Commission shall promulgate for purposes of this 

9 subsection. 

10 (e) CERTAIN MARKETING INFORMATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered data broker may 

12 not use, share, or sell any information for marketing 

13 purposes that is subject to an expressed preference 

14 under paragraph (2). 

15 (2) EXPRESSION OF PREFERENCES.—A covered 

16 data broker that maintains any information de17 scribed under subsection (a) and that uses, shares, 

18 or sells that information for marketing purposes 

19 shall provide each individual whose information the 

20 covered data broker maintains with a reasonable 

21 means of expressing a preference not to have that 

22 individual’s information used for those purposes. 

23 (f) AUDITING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

25 each covered data broker shall establish measures 


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1 that facilitate the auditing or retracing of any inter2 nal or external access to, or transmission of, any 

3 data containing personal information collected, as4 sembled, or maintained by the covered data broker. 

5 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Commission may estab6 lish, by rule, such exceptions to paragraph (1) as the 

7 Commission considers appropriate to further or pro8 tect law enforcement or national security activities. 

9 (g) SECURITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered data broker 

11 shall develop and implement a comprehensive con12 sumer privacy and data security program to protect 

13 against harm that may be caused by— 

14 (A) loss of personal information collected, 

15 assembled, or maintained by the covered data 

16 broker; or 

17 (B) unauthorized access, destruction, use, 

18 modification, or disclosure of such personal in19 formation. 

20 (2) NOTICE.—Whenever a covered data broker 

21 determines that personal information of an indi22 vidual that is collected, assembled, or maintained by 

23 the covered data broker has been lost or the subject 

24 of an unauthorized access, destruction, use, modi25 fication, or disclosure, the covered data broker shall 


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1 notify such individual of such loss, access, destruc2 tion, use, modification, or disclosure. 

3 (h) PERSONS REGULATED BY THE FAIR CREDIT RE4 PORTING ACT.—A covered data broker shall be considered 

5 to be in compliance with subsections (a) through (f) of 

6 this section with respect to information that is subject to 

7 the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) 

8 if the covered data broker is in compliance with sections 

9 609, 610, and 611 of that Act (15 U.S.C. 1681g, 1681h, 

10 1681i). 

11 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

14 promulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, 

15 United States Code, to carry out this Act. 

16 (b) ELEMENTS.—The regulations promulgated under 

17 subsection (a) shall include the following: 

18 (1) Such exceptions the Commission considers 

19 appropriate to promulgate under section 2(2)(B). 

20 (2) The period of review required under section 

21 4(b)(3). 

22 (3) Such exceptions as the Commission con23 siders appropriate to promulgate under section 

24 4(b)(4). 


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1 (4) The period of correction required under sec2 tion 4(c)(3). 

3 (5) The model form required by section 4(d)(2). 

4 (6) Requirements for auditing under paragraph 

5 (1) of section 4(f) and such exceptions under para6 graph (2) of such section as the Commission con7 siders appropriate. 

8 (7) Establishment of a centralized Internet 

9 website for the benefit of consumers that— 

10 (A) lists the covered data brokers that are 

11 subject to a requirement of section 4; and 

12 (B) provides information to consumers 

13 about their rights under this Act. 

14 (8) Such other regulations as the Commission 

15 considers appropriate to carry out this Act. 

16 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 

17 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS18 SION.— 

19 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC20 TICES.—A violation of section 3 or 4 or a regulation 

21 promulgated under this Act shall be treated as a vio22 lation of a rule defining an unfair or a deceptive act 

23 or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

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

25 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

2 enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 

3 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

4 powers, and duties as though all applicable 

5 terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 

6 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in7 corporated into and made a part of this Act. 

8 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

9 person who violates a regulation prescribed 

10 under this Act shall be subject to the penalties 

11 and entitled to the privileges and immunities 

12 provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

14 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 

15 (1) CIVIL ACTION.—Except as provided under 

16 paragraph (5), in any case in which the attorney 

17 general of a State has reason to believe that an in18 terest of the residents of that State has been or is 

19 threatened or adversely affected by any person sub20 ject to a provision of section 3 or 4 or a regulation 

21 promulgated under this Act in a practice that vio22 lates such provision or regulation, the attorney gen23 eral of the State may, as parens patriae, bring a 

24 civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in 

25 an appropriate district court of the United States— 


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1 (A) to enjoin further violation of such pro2 vision or regulation by such person; 

3 (B) to compel compliance with such provi4 sion or regulation; 

5 (C) to obtain damages, restitution, or other 

6 compensation on behalf of such residents; 

7 (D) to obtain such other relief as the court 

8 considers appropriate; or 

9 (E) to obtain civil penalties in the amount 

10 determined under paragraph (2). 

11 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

12 (A) CALCULATION.—For purposes of im13 posing a civil penalty under paragraph (1)(E), 

14 the amount determined under this paragraph is 

15 the amount calculated by multiplying the num16 ber of separate violations of a rule by an 

17 amount not greater than $16,000. 

18 (B) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Be19 ginning on the date that the Consumer Price 

20 Index is first published by the Bureau of Labor 

21 Statistics that is after 1 year after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, 

23 the amount specified in subparagraph (A) shall 

24 be increased by the percentage increase in the 

25 Consumer Price Index published on that date 


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1 from the Consumer Price Index published the 

2 previous year. 

3 (3) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS4 SION.— 

5 (A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS6 SION.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

8 in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 

9 State shall notify the Commission in writ10 ing that the attorney general intends to 

11 bring a civil action under paragraph (1) 

12 before initiating the civil action. 

13 (ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re14 quired by clause (i) with respect to a civil 

15 action shall include a copy of the complaint 

16 to be filed to initiate the civil action. 

17 (iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 

18 for the attorney general of a State to pro19 vide the notification required by clause (i) 

20 before initiating a civil action under para21 graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 

22 the Commission immediately upon insti23 tuting the civil action. 

24 (B) INTERVENTION BY FEDERAL TRADE

25 COMMISSION.—The Commission may— 


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1 (i) intervene in any civil action 

2 brought by the attorney general of a State 

3 under paragraph (1); and 

4 (ii) upon intervening— 

5 (I) be heard on all matters aris6 ing in the civil action; and 

7 (II) file petitions for appeal of a 

8 decision in the civil action. 

9 (4) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this 

10 subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney 

11 general of a State from exercising the powers con12 ferred on the attorney general by the laws of the 

13 State to conduct investigations, to administer oaths 

14 or affirmations, or to compel the attendance of wit15 nesses or the production of documentary or other 

16 evidence. 

17 (5) PREEMPTIVE ACTION BY FEDERAL TRADE

18 COMMISSION.—If the Commission institutes a civil 

19 action or an administrative action with respect to a 

20 violation of a provision of section 3 or 4 or a regula21 tion promulgated under this Act, the attorney gen22 eral of a State may not, during the pendency of such 

23 action, bring a civil action under paragraph (1) 

24 against any defendant named in the complaint of the 


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1 Commission for the violation with respect to which 

2 the Commission instituted such action. 

3 (6) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to civil ac5 tions brought by attorneys general under para6 graph (1), any other officer of a State who is 

7 authorized by the State to do so may bring a 

8 civil action under paragraph (1), subject to the 

9 same requirements and limitations that apply 

10 under this subsection to civil actions brought by 

11 attorneys general. 

12 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 

13 subsection may be construed to prohibit an au14 thorized official of a State from initiating or 

15 continuing any proceeding in a court of the 

16 State for a violation of any civil or criminal law 

17 of the State. 

18 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

19 (a) PRESERVATION OF COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 

20 Nothing in this Act may be construed in any way to limit 

21 or affect the Commission’s authority under any other pro22 vision of law. 

23 (b) PRESERVATION OF OTHER FEDERAL LAW.— 

24 Nothing in this Act may be construed in any way to super25 sede, restrict, or limit the application of the Fair Credit 


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1 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) or any other Fed2 eral law. 

Æ 


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