II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1477 To impose notice and consent requirements on internet platforms that use algorithms to manipulate the availability of content on the platform. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To impose notice and consent requirements on internet plat- forms that use algorithms to manipulate the availability of content on the platform. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Data and Algorithm 4 Transparency Agreement Act’’ or the ‘‘DATA Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1477 IS SEC. 2. NOTICE AND CONSENT REQUIREMENTS FOR INTER- 1 NET PLATFORMS THAT USE ALGORITHMS TO 2 MANIPULATE THE AVAILABILITY OF PLAT- 3 FORM CONTENT. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 1 year after the date 5 of enactment of this Act, any covered platform shall com- 6 ply with the requirements of subsection (c). 7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8 (1) COVERED DATA.—The term ‘‘covered data’’ 9 means, with respect to an individual, data regarding 10 the habits, traits, preferences, beliefs, or location of 11 the individual. 12 (2) COVERED PLATFORM.—the term ‘‘covered 13 platform’’ means a public-facing website, internet 14 application, or mobile internet application, including 15 a social network, video sharing service, ad network, 16 mobile operating system, search engine, email serv- 17 ice, or internet access service that— 18 (A) has not less than 30,000,000 active 19 monthly users in the United States; and 20 (B) uses an algorithm to increase or de- 21 crease the availability of content on the website 22 or application. 23 (c) REQUIREMENTS.— 24 (1) NO COLLECTION OF COVERED DATA WITH- 25 OUT CONSENT.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1477 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered platform 1 shall not collect any covered data of an indi- 2 vidual without obtaining the individual’s express 3 consent for such data collection. 4 (B) REVOCATION OF CONSENT; RIGHT TO 5 DELETE.—A covered platform shall— 6 (i) allow any individual to revoke or 7 withdraw the individual’s prior consent to 8 the covered platform collecting the individ- 9 ual’s covered data; and 10 (ii) at the request of an individual, de- 11 lete any covered data of the individual col- 12 lected or held by the platform. 13 (2) NO SALE, SHARING, OR CONVEYANCE OF 14 DATA WITHOUT CONSENT.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered platform 16 shall not sell, share, or otherwise convey to a 17 third party entity any covered data of an indi- 18 vidual without obtaining the individual’s express 19 consent. 20 (B) REVOCATION OF CONSENT.—A covered 21 platform shall allow any individual to revoke or 22 withdraw the individual’s prior consent to any 23 sale, sharing, or conveyance of the individual’s 24 covered data. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1477 IS (3) NOTICE OF REQUIREMENTS.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A covered platform 2 shall provide notice to users of the platform of 3 the requirements described in paragraphs (1) 4 and (2). 5 (B) MANNER OF NOTIFICATION.—The no- 6 tice required under subparagraph (A) shall con- 7 tain the information described in subparagraph 8 (C) and shall be provided by a covered platform 9 to a user— 10 (i) in plain language and in a con- 11 spicuous manner; 12 (ii) in addition to any notice relating 13 to the terms of service of the platform; 14 (iii) each time the user logs in to the 15 platform unless the user affirmatively 16 waives receiving the notice; and 17 (iv) each time the platform modifies 18 its terms of service. 19 (C) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATION.—A no- 20 tice required under this paragraph shall include 21 the following: 22 (i) With respect to the collection of 23 covered data by a covered platform— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1477 IS (I) the type of data to be col- 1 lected; 2 (II) whether the collection of 3 data will continue beyond the user’s 4 immediate use of the covered plat- 5 form; and 6 (III) how the data will be used by 7 the covered platform. 8 (ii) With respect to the sale, sharing, 9 or conveyance of covered data by a covered 10 platform— 11 (I) the specific data that will be 12 sold, shared, or otherwise conveyed to 13 a third party entity; 14 (II) the name of any third party 15 entity to which data will be sold, 16 shared, or otherwise conveyed; and 17 (III) the country of origin of the 18 third party entity to which the data 19 will be sold, shared, or conveyed. 20 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 21 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM- 22 MISSION.— 23 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC- 24 TICES.—A violation of this Act or a regulation pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1477 IS mulgated under this Act shall be treated as an un- 1 fair or deceptive act or practice in violation of a rule 2 promulgated under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Fed- 3 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 4 57a(a)(1)(B)). 5 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 7 Commission shall enforce this Act and any reg- 8 ulation promulgated under this Act in the same 9 manner, by the same means, and with the same 10 jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all 11 applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 12 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 13 were incorporated into and made a part of this 14 Act. 15 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 16 covered entity who violates this Act or a regula- 17 tion promulgated under this Act shall be sub- 18 ject to the penalties and entitled to the privi- 19 leges and immunities provided in the Federal 20 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 21 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual alleging a vio- 23 lation of this Act may bring a civil action in any 24 court of competent jurisdiction, State or Federal. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1477 IS (2) INJURY IN FACT.—A violation of this Act 1 with respect to the requirements to notify and obtain 2 the express consent of the user before the user’s 3 data may be collected, sold, shared, or otherwise 4 conveyed to a third-party entity constitutes a con- 5 crete and particularized injury in fact to that indi- 6 vidual. 7 (3) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought under 8 paragraph (1) in which the plaintiff prevails, the 9 court shall award— 10 (A) the greater of— 11 (i) not less than $5,000; and 12 (ii) actual damages; and 13 (B) reasonable attorney’s fees and litiga- 14 tion costs. 15 (c) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Commission 16 shall promulgate in accordance with section 553 of title 17 5, United States Code, such rules as may be necessary 18 to carry out this Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1477.IS S1477 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS