I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4048 
To limit the use, recording, or transmission of any speech or sound captured 
by a smart speaker, or any video or image captured by a video doorbell, 
and to prohibit, as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, such use, 
recording, or transmission without the express consent of the consumer. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2019 
Mr. MOULTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To limit the use, recording, or transmission of any speech 
or sound captured by a smart speaker, or any video 
or image captured by a video doorbell, and to prohibit, 
as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, such use, re-
cording, or transmission without the express consent of 
the consumer. 
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 ‘‘Automatic Listening 
Exploitation Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONDUCT PROHIBITED. 
(a) SMART SPEAKERS.—It shall be unlawful for a 
person who provides any smart service through a propri-
etary smart speaker to— 
(1) store or make a recording or transcript of 
any speech or sound captured by a smart speaker 
unless— 
(A) the smart speaker is specifically acti-
vated to do so by detecting an audible wake 
word or phrase that is known to the user; and 
(B) the smart speaker first makes an audi-
ble response or visual indication upon activation 
by such wake word or phrase; or 
(2) use any storage or recording or transcript 
of any voice interaction by a user with the voice-user 
interface, or transmit such recording or transcript to 
a third party, for any purpose— 
(A) other than to— 
(i) process a request and provide the 
service the user is requesting; 
(ii) improve the speech recognition 
and natural language understanding of the 
voice-user interface; or 
(iii) help the voice-user interface to 
adapt to speech patterns, vocabulary, and 
personal preferences; and 
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(B) without— 
(i) first providing to the user of the 
smart speaker when the speaker is first set 
up for use a clear and conspicuous notice, 
set off from other text in any user agree-
ment, of the specific purpose or purposes 
described in subparagraph (A); 
(ii) first obtaining the express consent 
of the user for that specific purpose; and 
(iii) permitting the user of the smart 
speaker to require the deletion of any re-
cording or transcript of any speech or 
sound captured by a smart speaker of such 
user at any time. 
(b) VIDEO DOORBELLS.—It shall be unlawful for a 
person who provides any security monitoring or other serv-
ice through a proprietary video doorbell to— 
(1) store or make a recording of any video, 
image, or audio captured by the video doorbell’s 
camera unless— 
(A) the video doorbell is specifically acti-
vated to do so when an individual presses the 
button of the doorbell, or alternatively, when 
the doorbell senses an individual at the doorstep 
with its built-in motion sensors, or is activated 
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remotely by the user of the doorbell through the 
user’s smartphone, computer, or similar inter-
net-enabled mobile device; and 
(B) such video or image is provided to the 
user of the video doorbell at the time such video 
or image is captured; or 
(2) use any storage or recording of any video, 
image, or audio captured by the video doorbell’s 
camera, or transmit such recording to a third party, 
for any purpose— 
(A) other than to provide the video, image, 
or audio to the user of the video doorbell or to 
allow the user using a smartphone, computer, 
or other internet-enabled device to watch and 
talk with a guest at the door by using the 
doorbell’s built-in camera and microphone; and 
(B) without— 
(i) first providing to the user of the 
video doorbell when the video doorbell is 
first set up for use a clear and conspicuous 
notice, set off from other text in any user 
agreement, of the specific purpose or pur-
poses described in subparagraph (A); 
(ii) first obtaining the express consent 
of the user for that specific purpose; and 
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(iii) permitting the user of the video 
doorbell to require the deletion of any re-
cording of any video or image captured by 
the video doorbell’s camera of such user at 
any time. 
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.— 
(1) UNFAIR
OR
DECEPTIVE
ACT
OR
PRAC-
TICE.—A violation of a section 2 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 (15 U.S.C. 
57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(2) POWERS
OF
COMMISSION.—The Federal 
Trade Commission shall enforce this Act in the same 
manner, by the same means, and with the same ju-
risdiction, powers, and duties as though all applica-
ble terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Com-
mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-
porated into and made a part of this Act. Any per-
son who violates section 2 shall be subject to the 
penalties and entitled to the privileges and immuni-
ties provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act 
(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
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(b) ENFORCEMENT
BY STATE ATTORNEYS GEN-
ERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the attorney general of a 
State, or an official or agency designated by a State, 
has reason to believe that any person has violated or 
is violating this Act, the attorney general, or other 
official or agency of the State, in addition to any au-
thority it may have to bring an action in State court 
under its consumer protection law, may bring a civil 
action in any appropriate United States district 
court or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, 
including a State court, to— 
(A) enjoin further such violation by the de-
fendant; 
(B) enforce compliance with this Act; or 
(C) obtain civil penalties not to exceed 
$40,000 per violation. 
(2) NOTICE
AND
INTERVENTION
BY
THE 
FTC.—The attorney general of a State shall provide 
prior written notice of any action under paragraph 
(1) to the Federal Trade Commission and provide 
the Commission with a copy of the complaint in the 
action, except in any case in which such prior notice 
is not feasible, in which case the attorney general 
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shall serve such notice immediately upon instituting 
such action. The Commission shall have the right— 
(A) to intervene in the action; 
(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 
matters arising therein; and 
(C) to file petitions for appeal. 
(3) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED-
ERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Federal Trade 
Commission has instituted a civil action for violation 
of this Act, no State attorney general, or official or 
agency of a State, may bring an action under para-
graph (1) during the pendency of the action initiated 
by the Commission against any defendant named in 
the complaint of the Commission for any violation of 
this Act alleged in the complaint. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) The term ‘‘Internet-enabled’’ means, with 
respect to an electronic device, that the device can 
connect to the Internet directly or through another 
device. 
(2) The term ‘‘person’’ means any individual, 
partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, 
association, or other entity. 
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(3) The term ‘‘smart service’’ means any serv-
ice provided to a consumer using a smart speaker, 
such as Internet content streaming services or vir-
tual assistant services. 
(4) The term ‘‘smart speaker’’ means an Inter-
net-enabled electronic device that can be controlled 
through a voice-user interface that provides a smart 
service to a user. 
(5) The term ‘‘user’’ means— 
(A) an individual who uses or interacts 
with a smart speaker using spoken or other 
commands; or 
(B) an individual who is provided images 
or audio captured by, or the ability to interact 
with, a video doorbell through the user’s smart-
phone, tablet computer, or similar Internet-en-
abled mobile device. 
(6) The term ‘‘video doorbell’’ means an Inter-
net-enabled doorbell, equipped with a camera or 
microphone, or both, that— 
(A) notifies the smartphone, computer, or 
similar Internet-enabled mobile device of a user 
when a guest arrives to the entrance of the 
door; 
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