I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8975 
To prohibit the usage of exploitative and deceptive practices by large online 
operators and to promote consumer welfare in the use of behavioral 
research by such providers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2020 
Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To prohibit the usage of exploitative and deceptive practices 
by large online operators and to promote consumer wel-
fare in the use of behavioral research by such providers. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deceptive Experiences 
To Online Users Reduction Act’’ or the ‘‘DETOUR Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act the following definition apply: 
(1) BEHAVIORAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERI-
MENT, RESEARCH, OR STUDY.—The term ‘‘behav-
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ioral or psychological experiment, research, or 
study’’ means the study, including through human 
experimentation, of overt or observable actions and 
mental phenomena inferred from behavior, including 
interactions between and among individuals and the 
activities of social groups. 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(3) COMPULSIVE USAGE.—The term ‘‘compul-
sive usage’’ means any response stimulated by exter-
nal factors that causes an individual to engage in re-
petitive, purposeful, and intentional behavior causing 
psychological distress, loss of control, anxiety, de-
pression, or harmful stress responses. 
(4) INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOARD.—The term 
‘‘independent review board’’ means a board, com-
mittee, or other group that serves to protect the wel-
fare, rights, and privacy of users and is formally 
designated by a large online operator to review, ap-
prove the initiation of, and conduct periodic review 
of, any behavioral or psychological experiment, re-
search, or study, conducted by such an operator or 
by any entity directed by such an operator to con-
duct such behavioral or psychological experiment, re-
search, or study, involving human subjects. 
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(5) INFORMED CONSENT.—The term ‘‘informed 
consent’’— 
(A) means the express, affirmative consent 
freely given by a user immediately prior to any 
user data being collected from such user for any 
behavioral or psychological experiment, re-
search, or study, where such user is provided 
adequate and understandable information— 
(i) to allow for an informed decision 
about voluntary participation in such a be-
havioral or psychological experiment, re-
search, or study; and 
(ii) to ensure the understanding of 
such user of the information and any asso-
ciated benefits, risks, or consequences of 
participation prior to obtaining the vol-
untary agreement to participate by the 
user; and 
(B) does not include— 
(i) the consent of an individual under 
the age of 18; 
(ii) language that limits or purports 
to limit the liability of a large online oper-
ator; or 
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(iii) the consent to a provision con-
tained in a general contract or service 
agreement. 
(6) LARGE
ONLINE
OPERATOR.—The term 
‘‘large online operator’’ means any person that— 
(A) provides an online service; 
(B) has more than 100,000,000 authenti-
cated users of an online service in any 30-day 
period; and 
(C) is subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Commission under the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
(7) ONLINE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘online serv-
ice’’ means a website or interactive computer service, 
other than an internet access service, that is made 
available to the public over the internet and enables 
users to generate content that can be viewed by 
other users of the service or that connects users for 
the purpose of such users engaging in dialogue, 
sharing information, or otherwise interacting. 
(8) PARENTAL CONSENT.—The term ‘‘parental 
consent’’ means the verifiable consent of a parent or 
guardian for a child under the age of 18 who uses 
an online service. 
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(9) USER.—The term ‘‘user’’ means any indi-
vidual who uses an online service. 
(10) USER
DATA.—The term ‘‘user data’’ 
means any information relating to an identified or 
identifiable individual user, whether directly sub-
mitted to the large online operator by the user or de-
rived from the observed activity of the user by the 
large online operator. Such term includes any such 
information purchased or otherwise obtained from 
third parties. 
(11) USER INTERFACE.—The term ‘‘user inter-
face’’ refers to any content accessible to a user of an 
online service or means by which a user interacts 
with such online service or engages with other users 
of an online service. 
(12) 
VERIFIABLE
CONSENT.—The 
term 
‘‘verifiable consent’’ means the express, affirmative 
consent freely given by a user to be subjected to the 
intended effect or effects of a user interface for an 
online service that is— 
(A) specific, informed, and unambiguous; 
and 
(B) given without the exchange of any fi-
nancial or other incentives for such consent. 
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SEC. 3. UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE-
LATING TO THE MANIPULATION OF USER 
INTERFACES. 
(a) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 
large online operator— 
(A) to design, modify, or manipulate a user 
interface of an online service with the purpose 
or substantial effect of obscuring, subverting, or 
impairing user autonomy, decision making, or 
choice to obtain consent or user data; 
(B) to conduct a behavioral or psycho-
logical experiment, research, or study of users 
of an online service, except with the informed 
consent of each user involved; 
(C) to design, modify, or manipulate a user 
interface of an online service with the purpose 
or substantial effect of cultivating compulsive 
usage, including video auto-play functions initi-
ated without verifiable consent of a user; or 
(D) to design, modify, or manipulate a 
user interface on an online service, or portion 
thereof, that is directed to an individual under 
the age of 18, with the purpose or substantial 
effect of increasing usage of an online service 
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through which a user interacts with other users 
without parental consent. 
(b) DUTIES OF LARGE ONLINE OPERATORS.—Any 
large online operator that engages in any form of behav-
ioral or psychological experiment, research, or study based 
on the activity or data of its users shall— 
(1) disclose, on a routine basis, but not less 
than once each 90 days, the general purpose of any 
such behavioral or psychological experiment, re-
search, or study to each user whose user data is or 
was during the previous 90-day period subject to or 
included in any such behavioral or psychological ex-
periment, research, or study; 
(2) state on its online platform and readily ac-
cessible to a user through its user interface, any be-
havioral or psychological experiment, research, or 
study whose purpose is to increase user engagement 
with the online service or to encourage users to take 
any action to convert such users into purchasers of 
any additional product or service offered by such on-
line service; 
(3) present the disclosures described in para-
graphs (1) and (2) in a manner that— 
(A) is clear, conspicuous, context-appro-
priate, and easily accessible; and 
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(B) the composition and reporting struc-
ture of the board to the management of the op-
erator; 
(C) the process by which the board is to be 
notified of proposed studies or modifications 
along with the processes by which the board is 
capable of vetoing or amending such proposals; 
(D) any compensation provided to board 
members; and 
(E) any conflict of interest that might 
exist concerning a board member’s participation 
in the board. 
(c) 
REGISTERED
PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS 
BODY.— 
(1) REGISTRATION.—An association of large 
online operators may register as a professional 
standards body by filing with the Commission an ap-
plication for registration in such form as the Com-
mission, by rule, may prescribe containing the rules 
of the association and such other information and 
documents as the Commission, by rule, may pre-
scribe as necessary or appropriate in the public in-
terest or for protecting the welfare of users of large 
online operators. 
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(2) DETERMINATION BY THE COMMISSION.—An 
association of large online operators may not reg-
ister as a professional standards body unless the 
Commission determines that— 
(A) the association is so organized and has 
the capacity to enforce compliance by its mem-
bers and persons associated with its members, 
with the provisions of this Act; 
(B) the rules of the association provide 
that any large online operator may become a 
member of such association; 
(C) the rules of the association assure a 
fair representation of its members in the selec-
tion of its directors and administration of its 
affairs and provide that one or more directors 
shall be representative of users and not be asso-
ciated with, or receive any direct or indirect 
funding from, a member of the association or 
any large online operator; 
(D) the rules of the association are de-
signed to prevent exploitative and manipulative 
acts or practices, to promote transparent and 
fair principles of technology development and 
design, to promote research in keeping with 
best practices for behavioral or psychological ex-
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periments, research, or studies or the designs of 
a user interfaces and informed consent, and to 
continually evaluate industry practices and 
issue binding guidance consistent with the ob-
jectives of this Act; 
(E) the rules of the association provide 
that its members and persons associated with 
its members shall be appropriately disciplined 
for violation of any provision of this Act, the 
rules or regulations thereunder, or the rules of 
the association, by expulsion, suspension, limi-
tation of activities or functions, fine, censure, 
being suspended or barred from being associ-
ated with a member, or any other appropriate 
sanction; and 
(F) the rules of the association are in ac-
cordance with the provisions of this Act, and, in 
general, provide a fair procedure for the dis-
ciplining of members and persons associated 
with members, the denial of membership to any 
person seeking membership therein, the barring 
of any person from becoming associated with a 
member thereof, and the prohibition or limita-
tion by the association of any person with re-
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spect to access to services offered by the asso-
ciation or a member thereof. 
(3) RESPONSIBILITIES
AND
ACTIVITIES.—Any 
association registered under paragraph (1) shall de-
velop, on a continuing basis, guidance and bright- 
line rules for the development and design of tech-
nology products of large online operators consistent 
with the duties of a large online operator described 
under subsection (b). 
(d) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.— 
(1) UNFAIR
OR
DECEPTIVE
ACTS
OR
PRAC-
TICE.—A violation of subsection (a) or (b) shall be 
treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or 
deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) 
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-
sion shall prescribe regulations under section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, that— 
(A) establish rules and procedures for ob-
taining the informed consent, verifiable consent, 
or parental consent of users; 
(B) establish rules for the registration, for-
mation, oversight, and management of the inde-
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pendent review boards, including standards that 
ensure effective independence of such entities 
from improper or undue influence by a large 
online operator; 
(C) establish rules for the registration, for-
mation, oversight, and management of profes-
sional standards bodies, including procedures 
for the regular oversight of such bodies and rev-
ocation of their designation; and 
(D) in consultation with each professional 
standards body that registers under subsection 
(c), define conduct that does not have the pur-
pose or substantial effect of subverting or im-
pairing user autonomy, decision making, or 
choice, or of cultivating compulsive usage for 
users or increasing the usage of an online serv-
ice by a child without parental consent, such 
as— 
(i) de minimis user interface changes 
derived from testing consumer preferences, 
including different styles, layouts, or text, 
where such changes are not done with the 
purpose of obtaining user consent or user 
data; 
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(ii) algorithms or data outputs outside 
the control of a large online operator or its 
affiliates; and 
(iii) establishing default settings that 
provide enhanced privacy protection to 
users or otherwise enhance their autonomy 
and decision-making ability. 
Æ 
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