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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 112

To prohibit the making, importation, exportation, distribution, sale, offer

for sale, installation, or use of an information collection device without

proper labeling or notice and consent.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 3, 2001

Mr. HOLT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To prohibit the making, importation, exportation, distribution, sale, offer for sale, installation, or use of an information collection device without proper labeling or notice

and consent.

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 ‘‘Electronic Privacy Pro5 tection Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO INFORMATION COL2 LECTION DEVICES.

3 (a) PROHIBITION.—It is unlawful for any person to

4 knowingly make, import, export, distribute, sell, offer for

5 sale, install, or use an information collection device in a

6 manner that violates any regulation issued under sub7 section (b).

8 (b) REGULATIONS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed11 eral Trade Commission shall issue regulations that

12 make it unlawful under subsection (a) for any

13 person—

14 (A) to knowingly make, import, export, dis15 tribute, sell, or offer for sale an information col16 lection device, unless the device has a label that

17 discloses in a manner that is readily apparent

18 and understood that the device may transmit

19 from a computer information that is identifiable

20 to that computer, to a primary user of that

21 computer, or to an individual who operates that

22 computer but is not a primary user thereof;

23 (B) to knowingly install an information

24 collection device on a computer that is not

25 under general management and control of that
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1 person, unless that person in accordance with

2 regulations issued under paragraph (2)—

3 (i) has given a primary user of that

4 computer notice of such installation; and

5 (ii) after providing such notice to a

6 primary user, has obtained the consent of

7 the primary user to such installation; or

8 (C) to knowingly use an information collec9 tion device to transmit from a computer that is

10 not under general management and control of

11 that person, any information that is identifiable

12 to that computer, to a primary user of that

13 computer, or to an individual who operates that

14 computer but is not a primary user thereof, un15 less that person in accordance with regulations

16 issued under paragraph (2)—

17 (i) has given a primary user of that

18 computer notice that the device may trans19 mit such information; and

20 (ii) after providing such notice to a

21 primary user, has obtained consent by the

22 primary user to such a transmission.

23 (2) NOTICE AND CONSENT.—For purposes of

24 notice and consent required by paragraph (1), regu25 lations shall require that—
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1 (A) notice be given and consent be ob2 tained for each instance of installation or use of

3 an information collection device; and

4 (B) consent is effective only if the person

5 obtaining the consent has a good faith belief

6 that the person giving the consent—

7 (i) has attained 18 years of age; and

8 (ii) has authority to give such consent.

9 (c) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF REGULA10 TIONS.—Regulations issued under subsection (b)(1)(A)

11 shall not prohibit the making, importation, exportation,

12 distribution, sale, or offer for sale of any information col13 lection device made before the date of the enactment of

14 this Act.

15 (d) PENALTY.—

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

17 whoever violates this section shall be fined $500 for

18 the first such violation and $1,500 for each subse19 quent violation.

20 (2) INFORMATION ABOUT MINORS.—Whoever

21 commits a violation of a regulation issued under

22 subsection (b)(1)(C) shall be fined twice the amount

23 of the fine that would otherwise apply under this

24 subsection if such violation results in the trans-
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1 mission from a computer of information that is iden2 tifiable to—

3 (A) an individual who operates that com4 puter and has not attained 18 years of age; or

5 (B) that computer if a primary user of

6 that computer is an individual who has not at7 tained such age.

8 (3) SUBSEQUENT VIOLATIONS.—Each violation

9 of a regulation issued under subsection (b)(1), in10 cluding each transmission of information in violation

11 of subsection (b)(1)(C), constitutes a separate viola12 tion for purposes of this subsection.

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

14 (1) COMPUTER.—The term ‘‘computer’’ means

15 a programmable electronically activated device

16 that—

17 (A) is capable of accepting information,

18 applying prescribed processes to the informa19 tion, and supplying the results of those proc20 esses with or without human intervention; and

21 (B) consists of a central processing unit

22 containing extensive storage, logic, and control

23 capabilities.
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1 (2) INFORMATION COLLECTION DEVICE.—The

2 term ‘‘information collection device’’ means any de3 vice that—

4 (A) is a computer program that is capable

5 of collecting and transmitting from a computer

6 to a person other than a primary user of that

7 computer, information that is identifiable to

8 that computer, to a primary user of that com9 puter, or to an individual who operates that

10 computer but is not a primary user thereof; and

11 (B) does not consist of only a simple iden12 tifying string of computer code, commonly re13 ferred to as a ‘‘cookie’’.

14 (3) PRIMARY USER.—The term ‘‘primary user’’

15 means any individual with general authority over

16 management and use of a computer or any person

17 on whose behalf an individual exercises such general

18 authority.

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