I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 538
To require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability in certain
internet-connected devices.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY26, 2023
Mr. C
URTIS(for himself and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability
in certain internet-connected devices.
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 ‘‘Informing Consumers 4
about Smart Devices Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF A CAMERA OR RECORD-6
ING CAPABILITY IN CERTAIN INTERNET-CON-7
NECTED DEVICES. 8
Each manufacturer of a covered device shall disclose 9
whether the covered device manufactured by the manufac-10
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turer contains a camera or microphone as a component 1
of the covered device. 2
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-3
SION. 4
(a) U
NFAIR ORDECEPTIVEACTS ORPRACTICES.— 5
A violation of section 2 shall be treated as a violation of 6
a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre-7
scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 8
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 9
(b) A
CTIONS BY THECOMMISSION.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis-11
sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 12
the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 13
powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 14
and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 15
(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 16
made a part of this Act. 17
(2) P
ENALTIES AND PRIVILEGES .—Any person 18
who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated 19
under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and 20
entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 21
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 22
seq.). 23
(c) C
OMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 24
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-25
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sion, through outreach to relevant private entities, shall 1
issue guidance to assist manufacturers in complying with 2
the requirements of this Act, including guidance about 3
best practices for making the disclosure required by sec-4
tion 2 as clear and conspicuous as practicable. 5
(d) T
AILOREDGUIDANCE.—A manufacturer of a cov-6
ered device may petition the Commission, in a manner 7
consistent with the rules of the Commission, for tailored 8
guidance as to how to meet the requirements of section 9
2. 10
(e) L
IMITATION ON COMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—No 11
guidance issued by the Commission with respect to this 12
Act shall confer any rights on any person, State, or local-13
ity, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or any per-14
son to the approach recommended in such guidance. In 15
any enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 16
Commission shall allege a specific violation of a provision 17
of this Act. The Commission may not base an enforcement 18
action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices 19
that are alleged to be inconsistent with any such guide-20
lines, unless the Commission determines such practices ex-21
pressly violate section 2. 22
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF COVERED DEVICE. 23
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘covered device’’— 24
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(1) means a consumer product, as defined by 1
section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 2
(15 U.S.C. 2052(a)) that is capable of connecting to 3
the internet, a component of which is a camera or 4
microphone; and 5
(2) does not include— 6
(A) a telephone (including a mobile phone), 7
a laptop, tablet, or any device that a consumer 8
would reasonably expect to have a microphone 9
or camera; 10
(B) any device that is specifically marketed 11
as a camera, telecommunications device, or 12
microphone; or 13
(C) any device or apparatus described in 14
sections 255, 716, and 718, and subsections 15
(aa) and (bb) of section 303 of the Communica-16
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 255; 617; 619; 17
and 303(aa) and (bb)), and any regulations 18
promulgated thereunder. 19
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 20
This Act shall apply to all covered devices manufac-21
tured after the date that is 180 days after the date on 22
which guidance is issued by the Commission under section 23
3(c), and shall not apply to covered devices manufactured 24
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or sold before such date, or otherwise introduced into 1
interstate commerce before such date. 2
Æ
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