Title: INFORM Consumers Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act or the INFORM Consumers Act
This bill requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose certain information from high-volume, third-party sellers.
High-volume, third-party sellers include online marketplace participants that conduct 200 or more transactions resulting in total revenues of $5,000 or more during a continuous 12-month period. Online marketplaces must acquire these sellers' (1) bank account numbers, (2) government-issued identification, (3) tax identification numbers, and (4) contact information. Online marketplaces must verify this information and annually certify changes to it.
Further, online marketplaces must make certain information (e.g., sellers' names and contact information) available to consumers through the sellers' product listings and provide consumers with methods to report electronically and by telephone any suspicious activity on the marketplace.
The bill provides the Federal Trade Commission with the authority to enforce these requirements.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3431

To require online marketplaces to disclose certain verified information 
   regarding high-volume third party sellers of consumer products to 
                           inform consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 2020

 Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require online marketplaces to disclose certain verified information 
   regarding high-volume third party sellers of consumer products to 
                           inform consumers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Integrity, Notification, and 
Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act'' or the 
``INFORM Consumers Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY ONLINE MARKETPLACES TO INFORM 
              CONSUMERS.

    (a) Verification Required.--Any online marketplace shall verify, on 
an annual basis, the identity of any high-volume third party seller on 
the online marketplace by requiring the high-volume third party seller 
to provide, on at least an annual basis, the following information:
            (1) Verified bank account information.
            (2) A government-issued photo identification for an 
        individual representing the high-volume third party seller.
            (3) A government-issued record verifying the individual or 
        business contact information.
            (4) A business tax identification number.
    (b) Information Required.--
            (1) In general.--Any online marketplace shall require a 
        high-volume third party seller on the online marketplace to 
        provide, and shall disclose to consumers in a conspicuous 
        manner on the product listing or through a conspicuously placed 
        link on the product listing, the following information:
                    (A) Subject to paragraph (2), the identity of the 
                high-volume third party seller which shall include--
                            (i) the full name of the seller;
                            (ii) the full business address of the 
                        seller;
                            (iii) whether the seller engages in the 
                        manufacturing, importing, retail, or reselling 
                        of consumer products; and
                            (iv) contact information for the seller, 
                        including a phone number and working email 
                        address.
                    (B) Contact information that allows for reporting 
                of suspicious marketplace activity to the online 
                marketplace and a message encouraging individuals 
                seeking goods for purchase to report suspicious 
                activity to the online marketplace.
                    (C) Any other information that the Commission 
                determines to be necessary to address circumvention or 
                evasion of the requirements of this paragraph, provided 
                that the additional information is limited to what is 
                necessary to address such circumvention or evasion.
            (2) Exception.--
                    (A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), upon 
                the request of a high-volume third party seller, an 
                online marketplace may provide for partial disclosure 
                of the identity information required under paragraph 
                (1)(A) in the following situations:
                            (i) If the high-volume third party seller 
                        demonstrates to the online marketplace that the 
                        seller does not have a business address and 
                        only has a personal street address, the online 
                        marketplace may direct the high-volume third-
                        party seller to disclose only the country and, 
                        if applicable, the State in which the high-
                        volume third-party seller resides on the 
                        product listing, and may inform consumers that 
                        there is no business address available for the 
                        seller and that consumer inquiries should be 
                        submitted to the seller's email address.
                            (ii) If a high-volume third party seller 
                        demonstrates to the online marketplace that the 
                        seller does not have a phone number other than 
                        a personal phone number, the online marketplace 
                        may inform consumers that there is no phone 
                        number available for the seller and that 
                        consumer inquiries should be submitted to the 
                        seller's email address.
                    (B) Limitation on exception.--If an online 
                marketplace becomes aware that a high-volume third 
                party seller has made a false representation to the 
                online marketplace in order to justify the provision of 
                a partial disclosure under subparagraph (A) or that a 
                high-volume third party seller who has requested and 
                received a provision for a partial disclosure under 
                subparagraph (A) has not provided responsive answers 
                within a reasonable timeframe to consumer inquiries 
                submitted to the seller's email address, the online 
                marketplace shall withdraw its provision for partial 
                disclosure and require the full disclosure of the high-
                volume third party seller's identity information 
                required under paragraph (1)(A) upon three business 
                days' notice to the high-volume third party seller.
    (c) Fulfillment or Shipment by Different Party Than Seller.--In 
addition to the requirements of subsection (b), an online marketplace 
that warehouses, distributes, or otherwise fulfills a consumer product 
order shall disclose to the consumer the identification of any high-
volume third party seller supplying the consumer product if different 
than the seller listed on the product listing page.
    (d) Enforcement.--
            (1) Unfair and deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of 
        subsection (a), (b), or (c) 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 the commission.--
                    (A) In general.--The Commission shall enforce this 
                Act 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 incorporated 
                into and made a part of this Act.
                    (B) Privileges and immunities.--Any person that 
                violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) shall be subject 
                to the penalties, and entitled to the privileges and 
                immunities, provided in the Federal Trade Commission 
                Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
            (3) Regulations.--The Federal Trade Commission may 
        promulgate regulations under section 553 of title 5, United 
        States Code, as necessary with respect to collecting and 
        verifying information under this section.
            (4) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
        construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any 
        other provision of law.
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Consumer product.--The term ``consumer product'' means 
        any tangible personal property which is distributed in commerce 
        and which is normally used for personal, family, or household 
        purposes (including any such property intended to be attached 
        to or installed in any real property without regard to whether 
        it is so attached or installed).
            (3) High-volume third party seller.--The term ``high-volume 
        third party seller'' means a user of an online marketplace who 
        is a third party seller and who, in any continuous 12-month 
        period during the previous 24 months, has entered into 200 or 
        more discrete sales or transactions of new or unused consumer 
        products resulting in the accumulation of an aggregate total of 
        $5,000 or more in gross revenues.
            (4) Online marketplace.--The term ``online marketplace'' 
        means any electronically based or accessed platform that--
                    (A) includes features that allow for, facilitate, 
                or enable third party sellers to engage in the sale, 
                purchase, payment, storage, shipping, or delivery of a 
                consumer product in the United States; and
                    (B) hosts one or more third party sellers.
            (5) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means a person who sells, 
        offers to sell, or contracts to sell a consumer product through 
        an online marketplace.
            (6) Third party seller.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``third party seller'' 
                means any seller, independent of an operator, 
                facilitator, or owner of an online marketplace, who 
                sells, offers to sell, or contracts to sell a consumer 
                product in the United States through an online 
                marketplace.
                    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``third party seller'' 
                does not include a seller who--
                            (i) is a business entity that has made 
                        available to the general public the entity's 
                        name, business address, and working contact 
                        information;
                            (ii) has an ongoing contractual 
                        relationship with the owner of the online 
                        marketplace to provide for the manufacture, 
                        distribution, wholesaling, or fulfillment of 
                        shipments of consumer products; and
                            (iii) has provided to the owner of the 
                        online marketplace identifying information, as 
                        described in subsection (a), that has been 
                        verified by the owner.
            (7) Verify.--The term ``verify'' means to confirm a 
        marketplace seller's personal identifiable information by the 
        use of an approved third party identity verification system 
        that has the capability to confirm a seller's name, email 
        address, physical address, and phone number, or through the use 
        of a combination of two-factor authentication, public records 
        search, and the presentation of a government-issued 
        identification.

SEC. 3. OTHER AUTHORITIES.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect 
any other Federal authority, rule, regulation, or standard that applies 
to consumer products, including the provisions of section 230 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) as such provisions apply to 
an online marketplace.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
                                 <all>