I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4667
To enhance consumer privacy, prevent unfair and deceptive practices, and
protect children’s privacy.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 1, 1998
Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To enhance consumer privacy, prevent unfair and deceptive
practices, and protect children’s privacy.
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 ‘‘Electronic Privacy Bill
of Rights Act of 1998’’.
TITLE I—INTERNET PRIVACY
PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN
SEC. 101. REGULATION OF UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS
AND PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH THE
COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFOR-
MATION FROM AND ABOUT CHILDREN ON
THE INTERNET.
(a) REGULATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any
operator of a website or online service that is di-
rected to children, or any operator that has actual
knowledge that it is collecting personal information
from a child, to collect personal information from a
child under the age of 13 in violation of the regula-
tions prescribed under paragraph (2).
(2) CONTENTS.—Not later than one year after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission
shall prescribe regulations to prevent the improper
collection of information from children under the age
of 13. Such regulations shall—
(A) require that any website or online serv-
ice that is directed to children that collects per-
sonal information from children—
(i) provide clear, prominent, under-
standable notice of the information collec-
tion, use, and disclosure practices of the
operator through the website or online
service;
(ii) obtain verifiable parental consent
for the collection, use, or disclosure of per-
sonal information from children who are
under the age of 13; and
(iii) provide a parent—
(I) access to the personal infor-
mation of the child of that parent col-
lected by that website or online serv-
ice; and
(II) the opportunity to refuse to
permit any further use or future col-
lection of personal information re-
ferred to in subclause (I) and notice
of that opportunity; and
(B) require that the operator of the
website or online service concerned to establish
and maintain reasonable procedures to ensure
the confidentiality, security, accuracy, and in-
tegrity of personal information collected from
children through the website or online service.
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—
(1) TREATMENT OF REGULATIONS.—A regula-
tion prescribed under subsection (a) shall be treated
as a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or prac-
tice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).
(2) ENFORCEMENT.—Subject to section 103, a
violation of a regulation prescribed under subsection
(a) shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining
an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade
Commission Act.
SEC. 102. SAFE HARBORS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In prescribing regulations under
section 101, the Federal Trade Commission shall provide
incentives for efforts of self-regulation by commercial
website operators to implement the protections described
in subsection (a) of that section.
(b) SAFE HARBORS.—The incentives referred to in
subsection (a) shall include provisions for ensuring that
a person will be deemed to be in compliance with the re-
quirements of the regulations under section 101 if that
person applies guidelines that—
(1) are issued by appropriate representatives of
the computer industry; and
(2) are approved by the Federal Trade Commis-
sion upon making a determination that the guide-
lines meet the requirements of the regulations issued
under section 101.
SEC. 103. ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICABILITY OF ACT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, this
title shall be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission
under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41
et seq.).
(b) PROVISIONS.—Compliance with the requirements
imposed under this title shall be enforced under—
(1) section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Act (12 U.S.C. 1818), in the case of—
(A) national banks, and Federal branches
and Federal agencies of foreign banks, by the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
(B) member banks of the Federal Reserve
System (other than national banks), branches
and agencies of foreign banks (other than Fed-
eral branches, Federal agencies, and insured
State branches of foreign banks), commercial
lending companies owned or controlled by for-
eign banks, and organizations operating under
section 25 or 25(a) of the Federal Reserve Act
(12 U.S.C. 601 et seq. and 611 et seq.), by the
Board; and
(C) banks insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (other than members of
the Federal Reserve System) and insured State
branches of foreign banks, by the Board of Di-
rectors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Cor-
poration;
(2) section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Act (12 U.S.C. 1818), by the Director of the Office
of Thrift Supervision, in the case of a savings asso-
ciation the deposits of which are insured by the Fed-
eral Deposit Insurance Corporation;
(3) the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C.
1751 et seq.), by the National Credit Union Admin-
istration Board with respect to any Federal credit
union;
(4) part A of subtitle VII of title 49, by the
Secretary of Transportation with respect to any air
carrier or foreign air carrier subject to that part;
(5) the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7
U.S.C. 181 et seq.) (except as provided in section
406 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 226, 227)), by the Sec-
retary of Agriculture with respect to any activities
subject to that Act; and
(6) the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C.
2001 et seq.) by the Farm Credit Administration
with respect to any Federal land bank, Federal land
bank association, Federal intermediate credit bank,
or production credit association.
(c) EXERCISE OF CERTAIN POWERS.—For the pur-
pose of the exercise by any agency referred to in sub-
section (b) of its powers under any Act referred to in that
subsection, a violation of any requirement imposed under
this title shall be deemed to be a violation of a requirement
imposed under that Act. In addition to its powers under
any provision of law specifically referred to in subsection
(a), each of the agencies referred to in that subsection may
exercise, for the purpose of enforcing compliance with any
requirement imposed under this title, any other authority
conferred on it by law.
(d) ACTIONS
BY
THE COMMISSION.—The Federal
Trade Commission shall prevent any person from violating
a rule of the Federal Trade Commission under section 101
in the same manner, by the same means, and with the
same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all appli-
cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and
made a part of this title. Any entity that violates such
rule shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the
privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade
Commission Act in the same manner, by the same means,
and with the same jurisdiction, power, and duties as
though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal
Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made
a part of this title.
(e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing contained in
the Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the
Federal Trade Commission under any other provisions of
law.
SEC. 104. REVIEW.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the
effective date of the regulations initially issued under sec-
tion 101, the Federal Trade Commission shall—
(1) review the implementation of this title, in-
cluding the effect of the implementation of this title
on practices relating to the disclosure of information
relating to children; and
(2) prepare and submit to Congress a report
the results of the review under paragraph (1).
SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) CHILD.—The terms ‘‘child’’ and ‘‘children’’
means an individual or individuals, respectively,
under the age of 16.
(2) OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘operator’’ means
any person operating a website on the World Wide
Webs for commercial purposes, or operating any on-
line service, and includes any person offering prod-
ucts or services for sale though that website or on-
line service, involving commerce—
(A) among the several States or with 1 or
more foreign nations;
(B) in any territory of the United States
or in the District of Columbia, or between any
such territory—
(i) and another such territory; or
(ii) and any State or foreign nation;
or
(C) between the District of Columbia and
any State, territory, or foreign nation.
Such term does not include any non-profit entity
that would otherwise be exempt from coverage under
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 45).
(3) 
DISCLOSURE.—The 
term 
‘‘disclosure’’
means, with respect to personal information—
(A) the release of information in identifi-
able form by a person to any other person for
any purpose; or
(B) making publicly available information
in identifiable form by any means including by
a public posting, through the use of a computer
on or through—
(i) a home page of a website;
(ii) a pen pal service;
(iii) an electronic mail service;
(iv) a message board; or
(v) a chat room.
(4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a
legal guardian, including a biological or adoptive
parent.
(5) PERSONAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘per-
sonal information’’ means individually, identifiable
information about an individual, including—
(A) a first and last name;
(B) a home or other physical address;
(C) an e-mail address;
(D) a telephone number;
(E) a Social Security number; or
(F) any other information that would fa-
cilitate or enable the physical or online locating
and contacting of a specific individual, includ-
ing information that is associated with an iden-
tifier described in this paragraph in such man-
ner as to become identifiable to a specific indi-
vidual.
(6) VERIFIABLE
PARENTAL
CONSENT.—The
term ‘‘verifiable parental consent’’ means any rea-
sonable effort (taking into consideration available
technology) to ensure that a parent of a child au-
thorizes the disclosure of personal information and
subsequent use of that information before that infor-
mation is collected from that child.
(7) WEBSITE DIRECTED TO CHILDREN.—The
term ‘‘website directed to children’’—
(A) means a commercial website that is—
(i) targeted to children;
(ii) directed to children by reason of
the subject matter, visual content, age of
models, language, characters, tone, mes-
sage, or any other similar characteristic of
the website; or
(iii) used by a commercial website op-
erator to knowingly collect information
from children; and
(B) includes any commercial website any
portion of which is directed to children, as spec-
ified in subparagraph (A).
TITLE 
II—EXAMINATIONS 
OF
INTERNET PRIVACY PROTEC-
TIONS FOR ADULTS
SEC. 201. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION EXAMINATION.
(a) PROCEEDING REQUIRED.—Within 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Com-
mission shall commence a proceeding—
(1) to determine whether consumers are able,
and, if not, the methods by which consumers may be
enabled—
(A) to have knowledge that consumer in-
formation is being collected about them through
their utilization of various telecommunications
services and systems;
(B) to receive conspicuous notice that such
information could be used, or is intended to be
used, without authorization by the entity col-
lecting the data for reasons unrelated to the
original communications, or that such informa-
tion could be sold (or is intended to be sold) to
other companies or entities;
(C) to give notice to indicate the particular
privacy preferences of the consumer with re-
spect to the practices described in subpara-
graphs (A) and (B);
(D) to exercise control over the collection
of personal information and to stop the unau-
thorized use, reuse, disclosure, or sale of that
information;
(2) to solicit and review comment from the pub-
lic and the National Telecommunication and Infor-
mation Administration on the changes proposed pur-
suant to paragraph (3); and
(3) to prepare recommendations to the Con-
gress for any legislative changes required to correct
such defects.
(b) SCHEDULE FOR FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
RESPONSES.—The Federal Trade Commission shall, with-
in 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act—
(1) complete any rulemaking required to revise
Commission regulations to correct any defects in
such regulations identified pursuant to subsection
(a); and
(2) submit to Congress a report containing the
recommendations required by subsection (a)(5).
SEC. 202. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION EXAM-
INATION.
(a) PROCEEDING REQUIRED.—Within 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Commu-
nications Commission shall commence a proceeding—
(1) to examine the impact of interconnected
communications networks of telephone, cable, sat-
ellite, wireless devices, and other technologies on the
privacy rights and remedies of the consumers of
those technologies, as described in paragraphs (1)
and (2) of section 101(a);
(2) to determine whether consumers are able,
and, if not, the methods by which consumers may be
enabled to exercise such rights and remedies;
(3) to determine whether common carriers have
taken adequate steps to secure the communications
infrastructure and its components against unauthor-
ized interception of communications and other per-
sonal information;
(4) to propose changes in the Commission’s reg-
ulations to ensure that the effect on consumer pri-
vacy rights is considered in the introduction of new
telecommunications services and that the protection
of such privacy rights and network security is incor-
porated as necessary in the design of such services
or the rules regulating such services;
(5) to propose changes in the Commission’s reg-
ulations as necessary to correct any defects identi-
fied pursuant to this section in such rights, rem-
edies, and security;