I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4731 

To require owners of Internet websites to destroy obsolete data containing 

personal information. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2006 

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

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require owners of Internet websites to destroy obsolete 

data containing personal information. 

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 ‘‘Eliminate 

5 Warehousing of Consumer Internet Data Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As the Nation’s communications networks 

9 continue to grow and become ever more sophisti10 cated, more individuals and industries will be using 
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1 such networks to communicate and conduct commer2 cial transactions. 

3 (2) The ease of gathering and compiling per4 sonal information during such communications, both 

5 overtly and surreptitiously, is becoming increasingly 

6 efficient and almost effortless due to advances in 

7 digital telecommunications technology and the wide8 spread use of the Internet. 

9 (3) Consumers have an ownership interest in 

10 their personal information. 

11 (4) Information gathered about consumers over 

12 the Internet can provide detail about some of the 

13 most intimate aspects of an individual’s life, includ14 ing their Internet interests, communications with 

15 other citizens, purchases, information inquiries, and 

16 political or religious interests, affiliations, or speech. 

17 (5) Certain information about Internet searches 

18 or website visits conducted from a particular com19 puter can be obtained and stored by websites or 

20 search engines, and can be traced back to individual 

21 computer users. 

22 (6) Fair information practices include providing 

23 consumers with knowledge of any data collection, 

24 conspicuous consumer notice of an entity’s data 

25 practices, consumer choice to provide consent or 
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1 deny authorization for such practices, access to data 

2 collected, safeguards to ensure data integrity, and 

3 contact information. 

4 (7) In order to safeguard consumer privacy in5 terests, companies that gather personal information 

6 that can identify individual consumers should cease 

7 to store such information after it is no longer nec8 essary to render service to such consumers or to con9 duct any legitimate business practice. 

10 (8) Cable operators, who can gather personal 

11 information about a subscriber’s use of the cable 

12 system and obtain information about a consumer’s 

13 video programming choices and use of their cable 

14 modem are currently required under section 631 of 

15 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 551) to 

16 destroy any personal information gathered from a 

17 subscriber after it is no longer necessary for the pur18 pose for which it was gathered and if there are no 

19 other pending legal requests for such information. 

20 (9) A similar obligation should govern informa21 tion gathered about consumers by Internet websites, 

22 which often possess information about computer 

23 users which is more detailed, and arguably more 

24 personalized, than information cable operators typi25 cally gather. 
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1 SEC. 3. DESTRUCTION OF DATA WITH PERSONAL INFORMA2 TION BY INTERNET WEBSITES. 

3 An owner of an Internet website shall destroy, within 

4 a reasonable period of time, any data containing personal 

5 information if the information is no longer necessary for 

6 the purpose for which it was collected or any other legiti7 mate business purpose, or there are no pending requests 

8 or orders for access to such information pursuant to a 

9 court order. 

10 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS11 SION. 

12 A violation of section 3 shall be treated as a violation 

13 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice 

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

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

16 Trade Commission shall enforce this Act in the same man17 ner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction 

18 as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed19 eral Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and 

20 made a part of this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

22 As used in this Act the following definitions apply: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘Internet’’ means collectively the 

24 myriad of computer and telecommunications facili25 ties, including equipment and operating software, 

26 which comprise the interconnected world-wide net-
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1 work of networks that employ the Transmission 

2 Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any prede3 cessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to 

4 communicate information of all kinds by wire or 

5 radio. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘personal information’’— 

7 (A) means information that allows a living 

8 person to be identified individually, including 

9 the following: the first and last name of an indi10 vidual, a home or physical address of an indi11 vidual, date or place of birth, an email address, 

12 a telephone number, a Social Security number, 

13 a tax identification number, birth certificate 

14 number, passport number, driver’s license num15 ber, credit card number, bank card number, or 

16 any government-issued identification number; 

17 and 

18 (B) does not include any record of aggre19 gate data that does not permit the identifica20 tion of particular persons. 

21 (3) The term ‘‘web page’’ means a location that 

22 has a single Uniform Resource Locator or another 

23 single location with respect to the Internet, as the 

24 Federal Trade Commission may prescribe. 
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1 (4) The term ‘‘Internet website’’ means a col2 lection of web pages that are presented and made 

3 available by means of the Internet as a single 

4 website (or a single web page so presented and made 

5 available), which web pages have any of the fol6 lowing characteristics: 

7 (A) A common domain name. 

8 (B) Common ownership, management, or 

9 registration. 

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