Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB859 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 859
5	5	To require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability in certain
6	6	internet-connected devices.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	JANUARY31, 2025
9	9	Mr. F
10	10	ULCHER(for himself and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the following bill;
11	11	which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To require the disclosure of a camera or recording capability
14	14	in certain internet-connected devices.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Informing Consumers 4
19	19	about Smart Devices Act’’. 5
20	20	SEC. 2. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF A CAMERA OR RECORD-6
21	21	ING CAPABILITY IN CERTAIN INTERNET-CON-7
22	22	NECTED DEVICES. 8
23	23	Each manufacturer of a covered device shall disclose, 9
24	24	clearly and conspicuously and prior to purchase, whether 10
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27	27	•HR 859 IH
28	28	the covered device manufactured by the manufacturer con-1
29	29	tains a camera or microphone as a component of the cov-2
30	30	ered device. 3
31	31	SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-4
32	32	SION. 5
33	33	(a) U
34	34	NFAIR ORDECEPTIVEACTS ORPRACTICES.— 6
35	35	A violation of section 2 shall be treated as a violation of 7
36	36	a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre-8
37	37	scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 9
38	38	Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 10
39	39	(b) A
40	40	CTIONS BY THECOMMISSION.— 11
41	41	(1) I
42	42	N GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis-12
43	43	sion (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) 13
44	44	shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 14
45	45	same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, 15
46	46	and duties as though all applicable terms and provi-16
47	47	sions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 17
48	48	U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made 18
49	49	a part of this Act. 19
50	50	(2) P
51	51	ENALTIES AND PRIVILEGES .—Any person 20
52	52	who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated 21
53	53	under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and 22
54	54	entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 23
55	55	the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 24
56	56	seq.). 25
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60	60	(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this Act 1
61	61	shall be construed to limit the authority of the Com-2
62	62	mission under any other provision of law. 3
63	63	(c) C
64	64	OMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 4
65	65	days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-5
66	66	sion, through outreach to relevant private entities, shall 6
67	67	issue guidance to assist manufacturers in complying with 7
68	68	the requirements of this Act, including guidance about 8
69	69	best practices for making the disclosure required by sec-9
70	70	tion 2 as clear and conspicuous and age appropriate as 10
71	71	practicable and about best practices for the use of a pic-11
72	72	torial (as defined in section 2(a) of the Consumer Review 12
73	73	Fairness Act of 2016 (15 U.S.C. 45b(a))) visual represen-13
74	74	tation of the information to be disclosed. 14
75	75	(d) T
76	76	AILOREDGUIDANCE.—A manufacturer of a cov-15
77	77	ered device may petition the Commission for tailored guid-16
78	78	ance as to how to meet the requirements of section 2 con-17
79	79	sistent with existing rules of practice or any successor 18
80	80	rules. 19
81	81	(e) L
82	82	IMITATION ON COMMISSIONGUIDANCE.—No 20
83	83	guidance issued by the Commission with respect to this 21
84	84	Act shall confer any rights on any person, State, or local-22
85	85	ity, nor shall operate to bind the Commission or any per-23
86	86	son to the approach recommended in such guidance. In 24
87	87	any enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the 25
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91	91	Commission shall allege a specific violation of a provision 1
92	92	of this Act. The Commission may not base an enforcement 2
93	93	action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices 3
94	94	that are alleged to be inconsistent with any such guide-4
95	95	lines, unless the practices allegedly violate section 2. 5
96	96	SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF COVERED DEVICE. 6
97	97	As used in this Act, the term ‘‘covered device’’— 7
98	98	(1) means a consumer product, as defined by 8
99	99	section 3(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act 9
100	100	(15 U.S.C. 2052(a)) that is capable of connecting to 10
101	101	the internet, a component of which is a camera or 11
102	102	microphone; and 12
103	103	(2) does not include— 13
104	104	(A) a telephone (including a mobile phone), 14
105	105	a laptop, tablet, or any device that a consumer 15
106	106	would reasonably expect to have a microphone 16
107	107	or camera; 17
108	108	(B) any device that is specifically marketed 18
109	109	as a camera, telecommunications device, or 19
110	110	microphone; or 20
111	111	(C) any device or apparatus described in 21
112	112	sections 255, 716, and 718, and subsections 22
113	113	(aa) and (bb) of section 303 of the Communica-23
114	114	tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 255; 617; 619; 24
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118	118	and 303(aa) and (bb)), and any regulations 1
119	119	promulgated thereunder. 2
120	120	SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3
121	121	This Act shall apply to all covered devices manufac-4
122	122	tured after the date that is 180 days after the date on 5
123	123	which guidance is issued by the Commission under section 6
124	124	3(c), and shall not apply to covered devices manufactured 7
125	125	or sold before such date, or otherwise introduced into 8
126	126	interstate commerce before such date. 9
127	127	Æ
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