Sec. 301. Enforcement, civil penalties, and applicability
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The Commission shall establish a new Bureau within the Commission comparable in structure, size, organization, and authority to the existing Bureaus with the Commission related to consumer protection and competition. The mission of the Bureau established under this paragraph shall be to assist the Commission in exercising the Commission’s authority under this Act and under other Federal laws addressing privacy, data security, and related issues. Such Bureau shall be established, staffed, and fully operational within 2 years of enactment of this Act.
A violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B) ). Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the Commission shall enforce this Act and the regulations promulgated under this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.
Any person who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). The Commission may commence, defend, or intervene in, and supervise the litigation of any civil action under this subsection (including an action to collect a civil penalty) and any appeal of such action in its own name by any of its attorneys designated by it for such purpose.
The Commission shall notify the Attorney General of any such action and may consult with the Attorney General with respect to any such action or request the Attorney General on behalf of the Commission to commence, defend, or intervene in any such action. There is established in the Treasury of the United States a separate fund to be known as the Data Privacy and Security Relief Fund (referred to in this paragraph as the Relief Fund ). The Commission shall deposit into the Relief Fund the amount of any civil penalty obtained against any covered entity in any judicial or administrative action the Commission commences to enforce this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act.
The Attorney General of the United States shall deposit into the Relief Fund the amount of any civil penalty obtained against any covered entity in any judicial or administrative action the Attorney General commences on behalf of the Commission to enforce this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act. Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, amounts in the Relief Fund shall be available to the Commission, without fiscal year limitation, to provide redress, payments or compensation, or other monetary relief to individuals affected by an act or practice for which civil penalties have been obtained under this Act.
To the extent that individuals cannot be located or such redress, payments or compensation, or other monetary relief are otherwise not practicable, the Commission may use such funds for the purpose of consumer or business education relating to data privacy and security or for the purpose of engaging in technological research that the Commission considers necessary to enforce this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts in the Relief Fund shall not be subject to apportionment for purposes of chapter 15 of title 31, United States Code, or under any other authority.
In any case in which the attorney general of a State or a consumer protection officer of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is adversely affected by the engagement of any covered entity in an act or practice that violates this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act, the attorney general of the State, or a consumer protection officer of the State acting on behalf of the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate district court of the United States to— enjoin that act or practice; enforce compliance with this Act or the regulation; obtain damages, civil penalties, restitution, or other compensation on behalf of the residents of the State; or obtain such other relief as the court may consider to be appropriate.
Except where not feasible, the State shall notify the Commission in writing prior to initiating a civil action under paragraph (1). Such notice shall include a copy of the complaint to be filed to initiate such action. If prior notice is not practicable, the State shall provide a copy of the complaint to the Commission immediately upon instituting the action. Upon receiving such notice, the Commission may intervene in such action and, upon intervening— be heard on all matters arising in such action; and file petitions for appeal of a decision in such action.
No provision of this section shall be construed as altering, limiting, or affecting the authority of a State attorney general or a consumer protection officer of a State to— bring an action or other regulatory proceeding arising solely under the law in effect in that State; or exercise the powers conferred on the attorney general or on a consumer protection officer of a State by the laws of the State, including the ability to conduct investigations, to administer oaths or affirmations, or to compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary or other evidence.
Any action brought under paragraph
(1)may be brought in the district court of the United States that meets applicable requirements relating to venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States Code. In an action brought under paragraph (1), process may be served in any district in which the defendant— is an inhabitant; or may be found. Any individual alleging a violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, State or Federal. In a civil action brought under paragraph
(1)in which the plaintiff prevails, the court may award— an amount not less than $100 and not greater than $1,000 per violation per day or actual damages, whichever is greater; punitive damages; reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation costs; and any other relief, including equitable or declaratory relief, that the court determines appropriate. A violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act with respect to the covered data of an individual constitutes a concrete and particularized injury in fact to that individual. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no pre-dispute arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a privacy or data security dispute arising under this Act. Any determination as to whether or how this subsection applies to any privacy or data security dispute shall be made by a court, rather than an arbitrator, without regard to whether such agreement purports to delegate such determination to an arbitrator. For purposes of this subsection: The term pre-dispute arbitration agreement means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute that has not arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. The term pre-dispute joint-action waiver means an agreement, whether or not part of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement, that would prohibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. The term privacy or data security dispute means any claim relating to an alleged violation of this Act, or a regulation promulgated under this Act, and between an individual and a covered entity.
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