DELETE Act
Sponsored By: Representative Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3]
Introduced
Summary
The DELETE Act would create a federal registration system and a centralized data-deletion portal for data brokers, putting the Federal Trade Commission in charge of rules, enforcement, and oversight.
Show full summary
- Consumers and families would be able to submit a single deletion request to remove personal information held by registered data brokers and to stop future collection, with public opt-out mechanisms required.
- Data brokers would face annual registration, public disclosures, credentialing, audits, and verification requirements, and would pay fees set by the Federal Trade Commission to fund the system.
- The Federal Trade Commission would get rulemaking and enforcement authority, treat violations as unfair or deceptive acts, conduct audits, and publish annual reports and a statutory study on implementation.
- State privacy laws would be preempted only where they conflict with the Act, while state laws that offer greater protections could remain in effect if deemed non-inconsistent by the Commission.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.
Who counts as a data broker
The bill would define key terms. A “data broker” would be a business that collects your personal information without a direct relationship and then uses or shares it for pay, with listed exclusions (like directory assistance, fraud prevention, news reporting, and consumer reporting agencies). “Personal information” would cover many items, such as IDs, location, biometrics, browsing and search history, genetic data, device IDs, and more. A “direct relationship” would generally mean you are a current customer, bought in the last 18 months, or asked about products in the last 90 days. “Delete” would mean removing information so it cannot be retrieved in normal business. These definitions would set who is covered and what data you could ask to delete.
New registration and audits for data brokers
Data brokers would need to register with the FTC within 18 months and then every year. They would have to disclose contact details, how to opt out, what data they collect, where it comes from, and whether they use a credentialing process. The FTC would publish this in a downloadable file and note it cannot confirm accuracy. Brokers would file an annual report on deletion request completion, get an independent audit within 3 years and then every 3 years, send the audit to the FTC within 6 months, and keep records at least 6 years. Breaking these rules would count as an unfair or deceptive act under the FTC Act, allowing FTC enforcement and penalties.
One place to delete your data
The FTC would set up a free, online system within 1 year where you could send one request to delete your data from all registered data brokers. The system would use hashed lists so your raw identifiers are not exposed, and only registered brokers could check for matches. Brokers would have to check at least every 31 days (starting 8 months after the rules take effect), delete matched records within 31 days, and tell the FTC how many records they removed. Brokers that keep persistent identifiers would pay an annual access fee, capped at 1% of the system’s expected cost. There would be narrow exceptions that let brokers keep data only for specific legal, research, fraud‑prevention, consumer reporting, or similar required uses, and they could not use that kept data for marketing.
National rules with limited state preemption
This bill would set a national baseline. It would override state privacy laws only when they conflict. If a state law gives people stronger protection, it could stay in place if the FTC agrees.
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Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3]
MA • D
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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