II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1563 

To amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to extend, 

enhance, and revise the provisions relating to collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of children, to establish certain other protections for personal information of children and minors, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2015 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. MENENDEZ) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 

1998 to extend, enhance, and revise the provisions relating to collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of children, to establish certain other protections 

for personal information of children and minors, 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 ‘‘Do Not Track Kids 

5 Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, AND DISCLOSURE OF 

2 PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CHILDREN. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1302 of the Children’s 

4 Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(2) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’— 

9 ‘‘(A) means any person who, for commer10 cial purposes, in interstate or foreign commerce, 

11 operates or provides a website on the Internet, 

12 online service, online application, or mobile ap13 plication, and who— 

14 ‘‘(i) collects or maintains, either di15 rectly or through a service provider, per16 sonal information from or about the users 

17 of such website, service, or application; 

18 ‘‘(ii) allows another person to collect 

19 personal information directly from users of 

20 such website, service, or application (in 

21 which case the operator is deemed to have 

22 collected the information); or 

23 ‘‘(iii) allows users of such website, 

24 service, or application to publicly disclose 

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1 erator is deemed to have collected the in2 formation); and 

3 ‘‘(B) does not include any nonprofit entity 

4 that would otherwise be exempt from coverage 

5 under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commis6 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45).’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

8 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

9 as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) the release of personal information 

11 for any purpose, except where such information 

12 is provided to a person other than an operator 

13 who provides support for the internal operations 

14 of the website, online service, online application, 

15 or mobile application of the operator and does 

16 not disclose or use that information for any 

17 other purpose; and’’; and 

18 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 ‘‘website or online service’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘website, online service, online application, or 

21 mobile application’’; 

22 (3) in paragraph (8)— 

23 (A) by amending subparagraph (G) to read 

24 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(G) information concerning a child or the 

2 parents of that child (including any unique or 

3 substantially unique identifier, such as a cus4 tomer number) that an operator collects online 

5 from the child and combines with an identifier 

6 described in subparagraphs (A) through (G).’’; 

7 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

8 and (G) as subparagraphs (G) and (H), respec9 tively; and 

10 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

11 the following new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(F) information (including an Internet 

13 protocol address) that permits the identification 

14 of an individual, the computer of an individual, 

15 or any other device used by an individual to ac16 cess the Internet or an online service, online ap17 plication, or mobile application;’’; 

18 (4) by striking paragraph (10) and redesig19 nating paragraphs (11) and (12) as paragraphs (10) 

20 and (11), respectively; and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(12) ONLINE, ONLINE SERVICE, ONLINE AP24 PLICATION, MOBILE APPLICATION, DIRECTED TO

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1 line application’, ‘mobile application’, and ‘directed 

2 to children’ shall have the meanings given such 

3 terms by the Commission by regulation. Not later 

4 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of the 

5 Do Not Track Kids Act of 2015, the Commission 

6 shall promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, regulations that define such 

8 terms broadly enough so that they are not limited to 

9 current technology, consistent with the principles ar10 ticulated by the Commission regarding the definition 

11 of the term ‘Internet’ in its statement of basis and 

12 purpose on the final rule under this title promul13 gated on November 3, 1999 (64 Fed. Reg. 59891). 

14 The definition of the term ‘online service’ in such 

15 regulations shall include broadband Internet access 

16 service (as defined in the Report and Order of the 

17 Federal Communications Commission relating to the 

18 matter of preserving the open Internet and 

19 broadband industry practices (FCC 10–201, adopted 

20 by the Commission on December 21, 2010)).’’. 

21 (b) ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, AND DISCLOSURE OF

22 PERSONAL INFORMATION OF CHILDREN.—Section 1303 

23 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 

24 (15 U.S.C. 6502) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the 

2 following: ‘‘ONLINE COLLECTION, USE, AND DIS3 CLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OF

4 CHILDREN.’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for an oper9 ator of a website, online service, online application, 

10 or mobile application directed to children, or an op11 erator having actual knowledge that personal infor12 mation being collected is from a child, to collect per13 sonal information from a child in a manner that vio14 lates the regulations prescribed under subsection 

15 (b).’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘of such a website or 

18 online service’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection 

20 (b)(1)(B)(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

21 (b)(1)(C)(iii)’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

24 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of the Do Not Track Kids 

3 Act of 2015, the Commission shall promulgate, 

4 under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 

5 regulations to require an operator of a website, on6 line service, online application, or mobile application 

7 directed to children, or an operator having actual 

8 knowledge that personal information being collected 

9 is from a child— 

10 ‘‘(A) to provide clear and conspicuous no11 tice in clear and plain language of the types of 

12 personal information the operator collects, how 

13 the operator uses such information, whether the 

14 operator discloses such information, and the 

15 procedures or mechanisms the operator uses to 

16 ensure that personal information is not col17 lected from children except in accordance with 

18 the regulations promulgated under this para19 graph; 

20 ‘‘(B) to obtain verifiable parental consent 

21 for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal 

22 information of a child; 

23 ‘‘(C) to provide to a parent whose child 

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1 ator, upon request by and proper identification 

2 of the parent— 

3 ‘‘(i) a description of the specific types 

4 of personal information collected from the 

5 child by the operator; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the opportunity at any time to 

7 refuse to permit the further use or mainte8 nance in retrievable form, or future collec9 tion, by the operator of personal informa10 tion collected from the child; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) a means that is reasonable 

12 under the circumstances for the parent to 

13 obtain any personal information collected 

14 from the child, if such information is avail15 able to the operator at the time the parent 

16 makes the request; 

17 ‘‘(D) not to condition participation in a 

18 game, or use of a website, service, or applica19 tion, by a child on the provision by the child of 

20 more personal information than is reasonably 

21 required to participate in the game or use the 

22 website, service, or application; and 

23 ‘‘(E) to establish and maintain reasonable 

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1 rity, and integrity of personal information col2 lected from children.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in the matter preceding subpara5 graph (A), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

6 (1)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

7 (1)(B)’’; and 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

9 ‘‘or to contact a different child’’ after ‘‘to 

10 recontact the child’’; 

11 (C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(3) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—The regula14 tions shall prohibit an operator from discontinuing 

15 service provided to a child on the basis of refusal by 

16 the parent of the child, under the regulations pre17 scribed under paragraph (1)(C)(ii), to permit the 

18 further use or maintenance in retrievable form, or 

19 future collection, by the operator of personal infor20 mation collected from the child, to the extent that 

21 the operator is capable of providing such service 

22 without such information.’’; and 

23 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(4) RULE FOR TREATMENT OF USERS OF

25 WEBSITES, SERVICES, AND APPLICATIONS DIRECTED


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1 TO CHILDREN.—An operator of a website, online 

2 service, online application, or mobile application that 

3 is directed to children shall treat all users of such 

4 website, service, or application as children for pur5 poses of this title, except as permitted by the Com6 mission by a regulation promulgated under this 

7 title.’’. 

8 (c) ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF ACT.— 

9 Section 1306 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection 

10 Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6505) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, in the 

13 case of’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

14 following: ‘‘by the appropriate Federal banking 

15 agency with respect to any insured depository 

16 institution (as such terms are defined in section 

17 3 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1813));’’; and 

18 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig19 nating paragraphs (3) through (6) as para20 graphs (2) through (5), respectively; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub22 section: 

23 ‘‘(f) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS AND CABLE

24 OPERATORS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ENFORCEMENT BY FTC.—Notwithstanding 

2 section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission 

3 Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), compliance with the re4 quirements imposed under this title shall be enforced 

5 by the Commission with respect to any telecommuni6 cations carrier (as defined in section 3 of the Com7 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)). 

8 ‘‘(2) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—To the 

9 extent that sections 222, 338(i), and 631 of the 

10 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222; 

11 338(i); 551) are inconsistent with this title, this title 

12 controls.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. TARGETED MARKETING TO CHILDREN OR MINORS. 

14 (a) ACTS PROHIBITED.—It is unlawful for— 

15 (1) an operator of a website, online service, on16 line application, or mobile application directed to 

17 children, or an operator having actual knowledge 

18 that personal information being collected is from a 

19 child, to use, disclose to third parties, or compile 

20 personal information for targeted marketing pur21 poses without verifiable parental consent; or 

22 (2) an operator of a website, online service, on23 line application, or mobile application directed to mi24 nors, or an operator having actual knowledge that 

25 personal information being collected is from a minor, 


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1 to use, disclose to third parties, or compile personal 

2 information for targeted marketing purposes without 

3 the consent of the minor. 

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

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

6 promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, United States 

7 Code, regulations to implement this section. 

8 SEC. 4. DIGITAL MARKETING BILL OF RIGHTS FOR TEENS 

9 AND FAIR INFORMATION PRACTICES PRIN10 CIPLES. 

11 (a) ACTS PROHIBITED.—It is unlawful for an oper12 ator of a website, online service, online application, or mo13 bile application directed to minors, or an operator having 

14 actual knowledge that personal information being collected 

15 is from a minor, to collect personal information from a 

16 minor unless such operator has adopted and complies with 

17 a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens that is con18 sistent with the Fair Information Practices Principles de19 scribed in subsection (b). 

20 (b) FAIR INFORMATION PRACTICES PRINCIPLES.— 

21 The Fair Information Practices Principles described in 

22 this subsection are the following: 

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1 tion should be collected from a minor only when col2 lection of the personal information is— 

3 (A) consistent with the context of a par4 ticular transaction or service or the relationship 

5 of the minor with the operator, including collec6 tion necessary to fulfill a transaction or provide 

7 a service requested by the minor; or 

8 (B) required or specifically authorized by 

9 law. 

10 (2) DATA QUALITY PRINCIPLE.—The personal 

11 information of a minor should be accurate, complete, 

12 and kept up-to-date to the extent necessary to fulfill 

13 the purposes described in subparagraphs (A) 

14 through (D) of paragraph (3). 

15 (3) PURPOSE SPECIFICATION PRINCIPLE.—The 

16 purposes for which personal information is collected 

17 should be specified to the minor not later than at 

18 the time of the collection of the information. The 

19 subsequent use or disclosure of the information 

20 should be limited to— 

21 (A) fulfillment of the transaction or service 

22 requested by the minor; 

23 (B) support for the internal operations of 

24 the website, service, or application, as described 


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1 in section 312.2 of title 16, Code of Federal 

2 Regulations; 

3 (C) compliance with legal process or other 

4 purposes expressly authorized under specific 

5 legal authority; or 

6 (D) other purposes— 

7 (i) that are specified in a notice to the 

8 minor; and 

9 (ii) to which the minor has consented 

10 under paragraph (7) before the informa11 tion is used or disclosed for such other 

12 purposes. 

13 (4) RETENTION LIMITATION PRINCIPLE.—The 

14 personal information of a minor should not be re15 tained for longer than is necessary to fulfill a trans16 action or provide a service requested by the minor 

17 or such other purposes specified in subparagraphs 

18 (A) through (D) of paragraph (3). The operator 

19 should implement a reasonable and appropriate data 

20 disposal policy based on the nature and sensitivity of 

21 such personal information. 

22 (5) SECURITY SAFEGUARDS PRINCIPLE.—The 

23 personal information of a minor should be protected 

24 by reasonable and appropriate security safeguards 


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1 against risks such as loss or unauthorized access, 

2 destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. 

3 (6) OPENNESS PRINCIPLE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The operator should 

5 maintain a general policy of openness about de6 velopments, practices, and policies with respect 

7 to the personal information of a minor. The op8 erator should provide each minor using the 

9 website, online service, online application, or 

10 mobile application of the operator with a clear 

11 and prominent means— 

12 (i) to identify and contact the oper13 ator, by, at a minimum, disclosing, clearly 

14 and prominently, the identity of the oper15 ator and— 

16 (I) in the case of an operator 

17 who is an individual, the address of 

18 the principal residence of the operator 

19 and an email address and telephone 

20 number for the operator; or 

21 (II) in the case of any other op22 erator, the address of the principal 

23 place of business of the operator and 

24 an email address and telephone num25 ber for the operator; 


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1 (ii) to determine whether the operator 

2 possesses any personal information of the 

3 minor, the nature of any such information, 

4 and the purposes for which the information 

5 was collected and is being retained; 

6 (iii) to obtain any personal informa7 tion of the minor that is in the possession 

8 of the operator from the operator, or from 

9 a person specified by the operator, within 

10 a reasonable time after making a request, 

11 at a charge (if any) that is not excessive, 

12 in a reasonable manner, and in a form that 

13 is readily intelligible to the minor; 

14 (iv) to challenge the accuracy of per15 sonal information of the minor that is in 

16 the possession of the operator; and 

17 (v) if the minor establishes the inaccu18 racy of personal information in a challenge 

19 under clause (iv), to have such information 

20 erased, corrected, completed, or otherwise 

21 amended. 

22 (B) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para23 graph shall be construed to permit an operator 

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1 tion requested by a law enforcement agency 

2 pursuant to legal authority. 

3 (7) INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION PRINCIPLE.— 

4 The operator should— 

5 (A) obtain consent from a minor before 

6 using or disclosing the personal information of 

7 the minor for any purpose other than the pur8 poses described in subparagraphs (A) through 

9 (C) of paragraph (3); and 

10 (B) obtain affirmative express consent 

11 from a minor before using or disclosing pre12 viously collected personal information of the 

13 minor for purposes that constitute a material 

14 change in practice from the original purposes 

15 specified to the minor under paragraph (3). 

16 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

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

18 promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, regulations to implement this section, including reg20 ulations further defining the Fair Information Practices 

21 Principles described in subsection (b). 

22 SEC. 5. ONLINE COLLECTION OF GEOLOCATION INFORMA23 TION OF CHILDREN AND MINORS. 

24 (a) ACTS PROHIBITED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for an oper2 ator of a website, online service, online application, 

3 or mobile application directed to children or minors, 

4 or an operator having actual knowledge that 

5 geolocation information being collected is from a 

6 child or minor, to collect geolocation information 

7 from a child or minor in a manner that violates the 

8 regulations prescribed under subsection (b). 

9 (2) DISCLOSURE TO PARENT OR MINOR PRO10 TECTED.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), neither 

11 an operator nor the operator’s agent shall be held to 

12 be liable under any Federal or State law for any dis13 closure made in good faith and following reasonable 

14 procedures in responding to a request for disclosure 

15 of geolocation information under subparagraph 

16 (C)(ii)(III) or (D)(ii)(III) of subsection (b)(1). 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis20 sion shall promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, regulations that require an op22 erator of a website, online service, online application, 

23 or mobile application directed to children or minors, 

24 or an operator having actual knowledge that 


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1 geolocation information being collected is from a 

2 child or minor— 

3 (A) to provide clear and conspicuous notice 

4 in clear and plain language of any geolocation 

5 information the operator collects, how the oper6 ator uses such information, and whether the op7 erator discloses such information; 

8 (B) to establish procedures or mechanisms 

9 to ensure that geolocation information is not 

10 collected from children or minors except in ac11 cordance with regulations promulgated under 

12 this paragraph; 

13 (C) in the case of collection of geolocation 

14 information from a child— 

15 (i) prior to collecting such informa16 tion, to obtain verifiable parental consent; 

17 and 

18 (ii) after collecting such information, 

19 to provide to the parent of the child, upon 

20 request by and proper identification of the 

21 parent— 

22 (I) a description of the 

23 geolocation information collected from 

24 the child by the operator; 


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1 (II) the opportunity at any time 

2 to refuse to permit the further use or 

3 maintenance in retrievable form, or 

4 future collection, by the operator of 

5 geolocation information from the 

6 child; and 

7 (III) a means that is reasonable 

8 under the circumstances for the par9 ent to obtain any geolocation informa10 tion collected from the child, if such 

11 information is available to the oper12 ator at the time the parent makes the 

13 request; and 

14 (D) in the case of collection of geolocation 

15 information from a minor— 

16 (i) prior to collecting such informa17 tion, to obtain affirmative express consent 

18 from such minor; and 

19 (ii) after collecting such information, 

20 to provide to the minor, upon request— 

21 (I) a description of the 

22 geolocation information collected from 

23 the minor by the operator; 

24 (II) the opportunity at any time 

25 to refuse to permit the further use or 


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1 maintenance in retrievable form, or 

2 future collection, by the operator of 

3 geolocation information from the 

4 minor; and 

5 (III) a means that is reasonable 

6 under the circumstances for the minor 

7 to obtain any geolocation information 

8 collected from the minor, if such in9 formation is available to the operator 

10 at the time the minor makes the re11 quest. 

12 (2) WHEN CONSENT NOT REQUIRED.—The reg13 ulations promulgated under paragraph (1) shall pro14 vide that verifiable parental consent under subpara15 graph (C)(i) of such paragraph or affirmative ex16 press consent under subparagraph (D)(i) of such 

17 paragraph is not required when the collection of the 

18 geolocation information of a child or minor is nec19 essary, to the extent permitted under other provi20 sions of law, to provide information to law enforce21 ment agencies or for an investigation on a matter re22 lated to public safety. 

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1 hibit an operator from discontinuing service provided 

2 to— 

3 (A) a child on the basis of refusal by the 

4 parent of the child, under subparagraph 

5 (C)(ii)(II) of such paragraph, to permit the fur6 ther use or maintenance in retrievable form, or 

7 future online collection, of geolocation informa8 tion from the child by the operator, to the ex9 tent that the operator is capable of providing 

10 such service without such information; or 

11 (B) a minor on the basis of refusal by the 

12 minor, under subparagraph (D)(ii)(II) of such 

13 paragraph, to permit the further use or mainte14 nance in retrievable form, or future online col15 lection, of geolocation information from the 

16 minor by the operator, to the extent that the 

17 operator is capable of providing such service 

18 without such information. 

19 (c) INCONSISTENT STATE LAW.—No State or local 

20 government may impose any liability for commercial ac21 tivities or actions by operators in interstate or foreign 

22 commerce in connection with an activity or action de23 scribed in this section that is inconsistent with the treat24 ment of those activities or actions under this section. 


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1 SEC. 6. REMOVAL OF CONTENT. 

2 (a) ACTS PROHIBITED.—It is unlawful for an oper3 ator of a website, online service, online application, or mo4 bile application to make publicly available through the 

5 website, service, or application content or information that 

6 contains or displays personal information of children or 

7 minors in a manner that violates the regulations pre8 scribed under subsection (b). 

9 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis12 sion shall promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, 

13 United States Code, regulations that require an op14 erator— 

15 (A) to the extent technologically feasible, 

16 to implement mechanisms that permit a user of 

17 the website, service, or application of the oper18 ator to erase or otherwise eliminate content or 

19 information submitted to the website, service, or 

20 application by such user that is publicly avail21 able through the website, service, or application 

22 and contains or displays personal information of 

23 children or minors; and 

24 (B) to take appropriate steps to make 

25 users aware of such mechanisms and to provide 

26 notice to users that such mechanisms do not 


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1 necessarily provide comprehensive removal of 

2 the content or information submitted by such 

3 users. 

4 (2) EXCEPTION.—The regulations promulgated 

5 under paragraph (1) may not require an operator or 

6 third party to erase or otherwise eliminate content 

7 or information that— 

8 (A) any other provision of Federal or State 

9 law requires the operator or third party to 

10 maintain; or 

11 (B) was submitted to the website, service, 

12 or application of the operator by any person 

13 other than the user who is attempting to erase 

14 or otherwise eliminate such content or informa15 tion, including content or information submitted 

16 by such user that was republished or resub17 mitted by another person. 

18 (3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section shall 

19 be construed to limit the authority of a law enforce20 ment agency to obtain any content or information 

21 from an operator as authorized by law or pursuant 

22 to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. 

23 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT AND APPLICABILITY. 

24 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided, this Act and the regulations prescribed under 

3 this Act shall be enforced by the Commission under 

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

5 seq.). 

6 (2) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC7 TICES.—Subject to subsection (b), a violation of this 

8 Act or a regulation prescribed under this Act shall 

9 be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair 

10 or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 

11 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

12 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

13 (3) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—Subject to 

14 subsection (b), and except as provided in subsection 

15 (d)(1), the Commission shall prevent any person 

16 from violating this Act or a regulation prescribed 

17 under this Act in the same manner, by the same 

18 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 

19 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 

20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 

21 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

22 this Act, and any person who violates this Act or 

23 such regulation shall be subject to the penalties and 

24 entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 

25 the Federal Trade Commission Act. 


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•S 1563 IS

1 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY CERTAIN OTHER AGEN2 CIES.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), compliance with 

3 the requirements imposed under this Act shall be enforced 

4 as follows: 

5 (1) Under section 8 of the Federal Deposit In6 surance Act (12 U.S.C. 1818) by the appropriate 

7 Federal banking agency, with respect to an insured 

8 depository institution (as such terms are defined in 

9 section 3 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)). 

10 (2) Under the Federal Credit Union Act (12 

11 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) by the National Credit Union 

12 Administration Board, with respect to any Federal 

13 credit union. 

14 (3) Under part A of subtitle VII of title 49, 

15 United States Code, by the Secretary of Transpor16 tation, with respect to any air carrier or foreign air 

17 carrier subject to such part. 

18 (4) Under the Packers and Stockyards Act, 

19 1921 (7 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) (except as provided in 

20 section 406 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 226; 227)) by the 

21 Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to any activi22 ties subject to such Act. 

23 (5) Under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 

24 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.) by the Farm Credit Adminis25 tration, with respect to any Federal land bank, FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Jun 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563

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•S 1563 IS

1 eral land bank association, Federal intermediate 

2 credit bank, or production credit association. 

3 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN4 ERAL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (A) CIVIL ACTIONS.—In any case in which 

7 the attorney general of a State has reason to 

8 believe that an interest of the residents of that 

9 State has been or is threatened or adversely af10 fected by the engagement of any person in a 

11 practice that violates this Act or a regulation 

12 prescribed under this Act, the State, as parens 

13 patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of 

14 the residents of the State in a district court of 

15 the United States of appropriate jurisdiction 

16 to— 

17 (i) enjoin that practice; 

18 (ii) enforce compliance with this Act 

19 or such regulation; 

20 (iii) obtain damages, restitution, or 

21 other compensation on behalf of residents 

22 of the State; or 

23 (iv) obtain such other relief as the 

24 court may consider to be appropriate. 

25 (B) NOTICE.— 


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•S 1563 IS

1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Before filing an ac2 tion under subparagraph (A), the attorney 

3 general of the State involved shall provide 

4 to the Commission— 

5 (I) written notice of that action; 

6 and 

7 (II) a copy of the complaint for 

8 that action. 

9 (ii) EXEMPTION.— 

10 (I) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) 

11 shall not apply with respect to the fil12 ing of an action by an attorney gen13 eral of a State under this paragraph, 

14 if the attorney general determines 

15 that it is not feasible to provide the 

16 notice described in that clause before 

17 the filing of the action. 

18 (II) NOTIFICATION.—In an ac19 tion described in subclause (I), the at20 torney general of a State shall provide 

21 notice and a copy of the complaint to 

22 the Commission at the same time as 

23 the attorney general files the action. 

24 (2) INTERVENTION.— 


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•S 1563 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—On receiving notice 

2 under paragraph (1)(B), the Commission shall 

3 have the right to intervene in the action that is 

4 the subject of the notice. 

5 (B) EFFECT OF INTERVENTION.—If the 

6 Commission intervenes in an action under para7 graph (1), it shall have the right— 

8 (i) to be heard with respect to any 

9 matter that arises in that action; and 

10 (ii) to file a petition for appeal. 

11 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 

12 any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this 

13 Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney gen14 eral of a State from exercising the powers conferred 

15 on the attorney general by the laws of that State 

16 to— 

17 (A) conduct investigations; 

18 (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

19 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 

20 the production of documentary and other evi21 dence. 

22 (4) ACTIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—In any 

23 case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf 

24 of the Commission for violation of this Act or a reg25 ulation prescribed under this Act, no State may, 


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•S 1563 IS

1 during the pendency of that action, institute an ac2 tion under paragraph (1) against any defendant 

3 named in the complaint in the action instituted by 

4 or on behalf of the Commission for that violation. 

5 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

6 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

7 paragraph (1) may be brought in the district 

8 court of the United States that meets applicable 

9 requirements relating to venue under section 

10 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 

11 (B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

12 brought under paragraph (1), process may be 

13 served in any district in which the defendant— 

14 (i) is an inhabitant; or 

15 (ii) may be found. 

16 (d) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS AND CABLE

17 OPERATORS.— 

18 (1) ENFORCEMENT BY FTC.—Notwithstanding 

19 section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), compliance with the re21 quirements imposed under this Act shall be enforced 

22 by the Commission with respect to any telecommuni23 cations carrier (as defined in section 3 of the Com24 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)). 


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•S 1563 IS

1 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—To the ex2 tent that sections 222, 338(i), and 631 of the Com3 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 222; 338(i); 

4 551) are inconsistent with this Act, this Act con5 trols. 

6 SEC. 8. RULE FOR TREATMENT OF USERS OF WEBSITES, 

7 SERVICES, AND APPLICATIONS DIRECTED TO 

8 CHILDREN OR MINORS. 

9 An operator of a website, online service, online appli10 cation, or mobile application that is directed to children 

11 or minors shall treat all users of such website, service, or 

12 application as children or minors (as the case may be) for 

13 purposes of this Act, except as permitted by the Commis14 sion by a regulation promulgated under this Act. 

15 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

17 (1) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi18 vidual over the age of 12 and under the age of 16. 

19 (2) TARGETED MARKETING.—The term ‘‘tar20 geted marketing’’ means advertising or other efforts 

21 to market a product or service that are directed to 

22 a specific individual or device— 

23 (A) based on the personal information of 

24 the individual or a unique identifier of the de25 vice; and 


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•S 1563 IS

1 (B) as a result of use by the individual, or 

2 access by the device, of a website, online serv3 ice, online application, or mobile application. 

4 (b) TERMS DEFINED BY COMMISSION.—In this Act, 

5 the terms ‘‘directed to minors’’ and ‘‘geolocation informa6 tion’’ shall have the meanings given such terms by the 

7 Commission by regulation. Not later than 1 year after the 

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

9 promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, United States 

10 Code, regulations that define such terms broadly enough 

11 so that they are not limited to current technology, con12 sistent with the principles articulated by the Commission 

13 regarding the definition of the term ‘‘Internet’’ in its 

14 statement of basis and purpose on the final rule under 

15 the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 

16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) promulgated on November 3, 1999 

17 (64 Fed. Reg. 59891). 

18 (c) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—The definitions set forth 

19 in section 1302 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protec20 tion Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501), as amended by section 

21 2(a), shall apply in this Act, except to the extent the Com22 mission provides otherwise by regulations issued under 

23 section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 

3 (b) and (c), this Act and the amendments made by this 

4 Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (b) AUTHORITY TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS.— 

7 The following shall take effect on the date of the enact8 ment of this Act: 

9 (1) The amendments made by subsections 

10 (a)(5) and (b)(3)(A) of section 2. 

11 (2) Sections 3(b), 4(c), 5(b), and 6(b). 

12 (3) Subsections (b) and (c) of section 9. 

13 (c) DIGITAL MARKETING BILL OF RIGHTS FOR

14 TEENS.—Section 4, except for subsection (c) of such sec15 tion, shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after 

16 the promulgation of regulations under such subsection. 

Æ 


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