SEC. 2. ACCESS BY MOBILE APPLICATIONS TO CERTAIN DE-
VICE CONTENT AND FUNCTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Com-
mission shall promulgate regulations in accordance with 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that require— 
(1) any person who develops, sells or offers for 
sale, or otherwise makes available to consumers a 
mobile application to ensure that the application 
does not access any content or functions described in 
subsection (b) while the application is not actively in 
use, unless— 
(A) the application triggers the disclosure 
and consent functions of the mobile platform or 
operating system described in paragraph (2); 
and 
(B) the user grants affirmative express 
consent as described in such paragraph; and 
(2) any person who develops, sells or offers for 
sale, or otherwise makes available to consumers a 
mobile platform or operating system to ensure that 
the mobile platform or operating system— 
(A) immediately before any mobile applica-
tion that is installed on the mobile device and 
that is not actively in use accesses any content 
or functions described in subsection (b), pro-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
19:25 Feb 13, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4048.IH
H4048
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
vides the user of the device with a disclosure of 
such access and the opportunity to grant af-
firmative express consent to such access or to 
deny such access; and 
(B) prevents the application from engaging 
in such access unless the user of the device 
grants such affirmative express consent. 
(b) CONTENT DESCRIBED.—The content and func-
tions described in this subsection are the following: 
(1) Information about the geographic location 
of the device. 
(2) Contact information of individuals stored on 
the device. 
(3) Photographs, video recordings, or audio re-
cordings stored on the device. 
(4) Events or notations stored in a calendar ap-
plication (or an application with calendar functions) 
on the device. 
(5) A camera of the device or any information 
obtained from such a camera. 
(6) A microphone of the device or any informa-
tion obtained from such a microphone. 
(7) Such additional content or functions speci-
fied by the Federal Trade Commission in the regula-
tions promulgated under subsection (a) as the Com-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
19:25 Feb 13, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4048.IH
H4048
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
mission considers necessary to protect the privacy of 
users of mobile devices. 
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 
(a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.— 
A violation of a regulation promulgated under section 2 
shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts 
or practices. 
(b) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Federal Trade 
Commission shall enforce the regulations promulgated 
under section 2 in the same manner, by the same means, 
and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 
though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incor-
porated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who 
violates such a regulation shall be subject to the penalties 
and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 
the Federal Trade Commission Act. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ACTIVELY IN USE.—The term ‘‘actively in 
use’’ means, with respect to a mobile application, 
that— 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
19:25 Feb 13, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4048.IH
H4048
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(A) the application is operating in accord-
ance with the terms of service provided by the 
developer of the application to the user of the 
mobile device; and 
(B) the user of the mobile device is inter-
acting with the application or the application is 
otherwise operating in a manner such that a 
user of ordinary technical expertise and experi-
ence would consider the application to be active, 
open, or running. 
(2) MOBILE APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘mobile 
application’’ means a software program that runs on 
the mobile platform or operating system of a mobile 
device. 
(3) MOBILE
DEVICE.—The term ‘‘mobile de-
vice’’ means a smartphone, tablet computer, or simi-
lar portable computing device that transmits data 
over a wireless connection. 
(4) MOBILE
PLATFORM
OR
OPERATING
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘‘mobile platform or operating sys-
tem’’ means the software that enables the basic 
functionality of a mobile device and the installation 
and use of mobile applications on the device. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
19:25 Feb 13, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H4048.IH
H4048
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS