TLDR Act

Bill: 118-hr-4568
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3]
Introduced: 2023-07-11
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Business ethics

Computer security and identity theft

Consumer affairs

Contracts and agency

Internet, web applications, social media

Right of privacy
Latest action: action_date: 2023-07-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4568 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 11, 2023 Mrs. Trahan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require covered entities to issue a short-form terms of service summary statement, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Terms-of-service Labeling, Design, and Readability Act or the TLDR Act . 2. Standard terms of service summary statement (a) Deadline for terms of service summary statement Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue a rule under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, with regard to a covered entity that publishes or has published a terms of service— (1) that requires the covered entity to include a truthful and non-misleading short-form terms of service summary statement on the website of the entity; (2) that requires the covered entity to include a truthful and non-misleading graphic data flow diagram on the website of the entity; and (3) that requires the covered entity to display the full terms of service of the entity in an interactive data format. (b) No New Contractual Obligation The requirement to include a summary statement described in subsection (a) does not create any new contractual obligation. (c) Requirements for short-Form terms of service summary statement (1) In general The short-form terms of service summary statement described in subsection (a)— (A) shall be accessible to individuals with low levels of literacy and individuals with disabilities, machine readable, and shall include tables, graphic icons, hyperlinks, or other means as the Commission may require; and (B) may be presented differently depending on the interface or type of device on which the statement is being accessed by the user. (2) Location of summary statement and graphic data flow diagram The summary statement shall be placed at the top of the permanent terms of service page of the covered entity and any graphic data flow diagram shall be located immediately below the statement. (3) Contents of summary statement The summary statement shall include the following: (A) The categories of sensitive information that the covered entity processes. (B) The sensitive information that is required for the basic functioning of the service and what sensitive information is needed for additional features and future feature development. (C) A summary of the legal liabilities of a user and any rights transferred from the user to the covered entity, such as mandatory arbitration, class action waiver, any licensing or sale by the covered entity of the content of the user, and any waiver of moral rights. (D) Historical versions of the terms of service and change logs. (E) If the covered entity provides user deletion services, directions for how the user can delete sensitive information or discontinue the use of sensitive information. (F) A list of data breaches from the previous 3 years reported to consumers under existing Federal and State laws. (G) The effort required by a user to read the entire terms of service text, such as through the total word count and approximate time to read the statement. (H) Any other information the Commission determines to be necessary if that information is included in the terms of service by the covered entity. (4) Additional information required by the Commission The Commission shall include in the rule a list of other information the Commission determines to be necessary under paragraph (3)(H). (d) Guidance on graphic data flow diagrams Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall publish guidelines on how a covered entity can graphically display how sensitive information of a user is shared with a subsidiary or corporate affiliate of such entity and how sensitive information is shared with third parties. (e) Interactive data format terms of service Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue a rule under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that requires a covered entity to tag portions of the terms of services of the entity according to an interactive data format. (f) Enforcement (1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices A violation of this section or a regulation promulgated under this section 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. (2) Powers of the commission The Commission shall enforce this section and the regulations promulgated under this section 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 section, and any person who violates this section or a regulation promulgated under this section shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act. (3) Enforcement by State Attorneys General In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of at least 1,000 residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in a practice that violates this section or a regulation promulgated under this section, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district court of the United States of appropriate jurisdiction to— (A) enjoin that practice; (B) enforce compliance with the regulation; (C) obtain damage, restitution, or other compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or (D) obtain such other relief as the court may consider to be appropriate. (4) Notice (A) In general Before filing an action under paragraph (3), the attorney general of the State involved shall provide to the Commission— (i) written notice of that action; and (ii) a copy of the complaint for that action. (B) Exemption (i) In general Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to the filing of an action by an attorney general of a State under this subsection, if the attorney general determines that it is not feasible to provide the notice described in that subparagraph before the filing of the action. (ii) Notification In an action described in clause (i), the attorney general of a State shall provide notice and a copy of the complaint to the Commission at the same time as the attorney general files the action. (5) Intervention by the Commission (A) Authority to intervene The Commission may intervene in any action brought under paragraph (3). (B) Effect of intervention If the Commission intervenes in an action under paragraph (3), the Commission shall have the right— (i) to be heard with respect to any matter that arises in that action; and (ii) to file a petition for appeal. (6) Construction For purposes of bringing any civil action under paragraph (3), nothing in this section may be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of that State to— (A) conduct investigations; (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence. (7) Actions by the Commission In any case in which an action is instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for a violation of this section or a regulation promulgated under this section, a State may not, during the pendency of that action, institute a separate action under paragraph (3) against any defendant named in the complaint in the action instituted by or on behalf of the Commission for that violation. (g) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law. (h) Definitions In this section: (1) Commission The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission. (2) Covered entity The term covered entity — (A) means any person or entity that operates a website located on the internet or an online service, that is operated for commercial purposes; and (B) does not include a small business concern (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 )). (3) Disability The term disability has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12102 ). (4) Interactive data format The term interactive data format means an electronic data format in which pieces of information are identified using an interactive data standard, such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML), that is a standardized list of electronic tags that mark the information described in subsection (c)(3) within the terms of service of a covered entity. (5) Moral rights The term moral rights means the rights conferred by section 106A(a) of title 17, United States Code. (6) Process The term process means any operation or set of operations performed on sensitive information, including collection, analysis, organization, structuring, retaining, using, or otherwise handling sensitive information. (7) Sensitive information The term sensitive information means any of the following: (A) Health information. (B) Biometric information. (C) Precise geolocation information. (D) Social security number. (E) Information concerning the race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability of an individual. (F) The content and parties to a communication. (G) Audio and video recordings captured through a consumer device. (H) Financial information, including a bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or insurance policy number. (I) Online browsing history, which means information revealing online activities over time or across websites or online services not owned or operated by the covered entity. (8) State The term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. (9) Third party The term third party means, with respect to a covered entity, a person— (A) to which the covered entity disclosed sensitive information; and (B) that is not— (i) the covered entity; (ii) a subsidiary or corporate affiliate of the covered entity; or (iii) a service provider of the covered entity.