118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 538
AN ACT
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 2
•HR 538 EH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Informing Consumers 2
about Smart Devices Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF A CAMERA OR RECORD-4
ING CAPABILITY IN CERTAIN INTERNET-CON-5
NECTED DEVICES. 6
Each manufacturer of a covered device shall disclose 7
whether the covered device manufactured by the manufac-8
turer contains a camera or microphone as a component 9
of the covered device. 10
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-11
SION. 12
(a) U
NFAIR ORDECEPTIVEACTS ORPRACTICES.— 13
A violation of section 2 shall be treated as a violation of 14
a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre-15
scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 16
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 17
(b) A
CTIONS BY THECOMMISSION.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis-19
sion shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 20
the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 21
powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 22
and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 23
(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 24
made a part of this Act. 25 3
•HR 538 EH
(2) PENALTIES AND PRIVILEGES .—Any person 1
who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated 2
under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and 3
entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 4
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 5
seq.). 6
(c) C
OMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 7
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-8
sion, through outreach to relevant private entities, shall 9
issue guidance to assist manufacturers in complying with 10
the requirements of this Act, including guidance about 11
best practices for making the disclosure required by sec-12
tion 2 as clear and conspicuous as practicable. 13
(d) T
AILOREDGUIDANCE.—A manufacturer of a cov-14
ered device may petition the Commission, in a manner 15
consistent with the rules of the Commission, for tailored 16
guidance as to how to meet the requirements of section 17
2. 18
(e) L
IMITATION ON COMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—No 19
guidance issued by the Commission with respect to this 20
Act shall confer any rights on any person, State, or local-21
ity, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or any per-22
son to the approach recommended in such guidance. In 23
any enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 24
Commission shall allege a specific violation of a provision 25 4
•HR 538 EH
of this Act. The Commission may not base an enforcement 1
action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices 2
that are alleged to be inconsistent with any such guide-3
lines, unless the Commission determines such practices ex-4
pressly violate section 2. 5
SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF COVERED DEVICE. 6
As used in this Act, the term ‘‘covered device’’— 7
(1) means a consumer product, as defined by 8
section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 9
(15 U.S.C. 2052(a)) that is capable of connecting to 10
the internet, a component of which is a camera or 11
microphone; and 12
(2) does not include— 13
(A) a telephone (including a mobile phone), 14
a laptop, tablet, or any device that a consumer 15
would reasonably expect to have a microphone 16
or camera; 17
(B) any device that is specifically marketed 18
as a camera, telecommunications device, or 19
microphone; or 20
(C) any device or apparatus described in 21
sections 255, 716, and 718, and subsections 22
(aa) and (bb) of section 303 of the Communica-23
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 255; 617; 619; 24 5
•HR 538 EH
and 303(aa) and (bb)), and any regulations 1
promulgated thereunder. 2
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3
This Act shall apply to all covered devices manufac-4
tured after the date that is 180 days after the date on 5
which guidance is issued by the Commission under section 6
3(c), and shall not apply to covered devices manufactured 7
or sold before such date, or otherwise introduced into 8
interstate commerce before such date. 9
Passed the House of Representatives February 27,
2023.
Attest:
Clerk. 118
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
H. R. 538
AN ACT
To require the disclosure of a camera or recording
capability in certain internet-connected devices.