[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2164 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2164
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to require impact assessments of
automated decision systems and augmented critical decision processes,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 25 (legislative day, June 24), 2025
Mr. Wyden (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Booker, Mr. Heinrich, Mr.
Lujan, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Schatz) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to require impact assessments of
automated decision systems and augmented critical decision processes,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Algorithmic Accountability Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Augmented critical decision process.--The term
``augmented critical decision process'' means a process,
procedure, or other activity that employs an automated decision
system to make a critical decision.
(2) Automated decision system.--The term ``automated
decision system'' means any system, software, or process
(including one derived from machine learning, statistics, or
other data processing or artificial intelligence techniques and
excluding passive computing infrastructure) that uses
computation, the result of which serves as a basis for a
decision or judgment.
(3) Biometrics.--The term ``biometrics'' means any
information that represents a biological, physiological, or
behavioral attribute or feature of a consumer.
(4) Chair.--The term ``Chair'' means the Chair of the
Commission.
(5) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(6) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means an individual.
(7) Covered entity.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered entity'' means
any person, partnership, or corporation over which the
Commission has jurisdiction under section 5(a)(2) of
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2))--
(i) that deploys any augmented critical
decision process; and
(I) had greater than $50,000,000 in
average annual gross receipts or is
deemed to have greater than
$250,000,000 in equity value for the 3-
taxable-year period (or for the period
during which the person, partnership,
or corporation has been in existence,
if such period is less than 3 years)
preceding the most recent fiscal year,
as determined in accordance with
paragraphs (2) and (3) of section
448(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986;
(II) possesses, manages, modifies,
handles, analyzes, controls, or
otherwise uses identifying information
about more than 1,000,000 consumers,
households, or consumer devices for the
purpose of developing or deploying any
automated decision system or augmented
critical decision process; or
(III) is substantially owned,
operated, or controlled by a person,
partnership, or corporation that meets
the requirements under subclause (I) or
(II);
(ii) that--
(I) had greater than $5,000,000 in
average annual gross receipts or is
deemed to have greater than $25,000,000
in equity value for the 3-taxable-year
period (or for the period during which
the person, partnership, or corporation
has been in existence, if such period
is less than 3 years) preceding the
most recent fiscal year, as determined
in accordance with paragraphs (2) and
(3) of section 448(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986; and
(II) deploys any automated decision
system that is developed for
implementation or use, or that the
person, partnership, or corporation
reasonably expects to be implemented or
used, in an augmented critical decision
process by any person, partnership, or
corporation if such person,
partnership, or corporation meets the
requirements described in clause (i);
or
(iii) that met the criteria described in
clause (i) or (ii) within the previous 3 years.
(B) Inflation adjustment.--For purposes of applying
this paragraph in any fiscal year after the first
fiscal year that begins on or after the date of
enactment of this Act, each of the dollar amounts
specified in subparagraph (A) shall be increased by the
percentage increase (if any) in the consumer price
index for all urban consumers (U.S. city average) from
such first fiscal year that begins after such date of
enactment to the fiscal year involved.
(8) Critical decision.--The term ``critical decision''
means a decision or judgment that has any legal, material, or
similarly significant effect on a consumer's life relating to
access to or the cost, terms, or availability of--
(A) education and vocational training, including
assessment, accreditation, or certification;
(B) employment, workers management, or self-
employment;
(C) essential utilities, such as electricity, heat,
water, internet or telecommunications access, or
transportation;
(D) family planning, including adoption services or
reproductive services;
(E) financial services, including any financial
service provided by a mortgage company, mortgage
broker, or creditor;
(F) healthcare, including mental healthcare,
dental, or vision;
(G) housing or lodging, including any rental or
short-term housing or lodging;
(H) legal services, including private arbitration
or mediation; or
(I) any other service, program, or opportunity
decisions about which have a comparably legal,
material, or similarly significant effect on a
consumer's life as determined by the Commission through
rulemaking.
(9) Deploy.--The term ``deploy'' means to implement, use,
or make available for sale, license, or other commercial
relationship.
(10) Develop.--The term ``develop'' means to design, code,
produce, customize, or otherwise create or modify.
(11) Identifying information.--The term ``identifying
information'' means any information, regardless of how the
information is collected, inferred, predicted, or obtained that
identifies or represents a consumer, household, or consumer
device through data elements or attributes, such as name,
postal address, telephone number, biometrics, email address,
internet protocol address, social security number, or any other
identifying number, identifier, or code.
(12) Impact assessment.--The term ``impact assessment''
means the ongoing study and evaluation of an automated decision
system or augmented critical decision process and its impact on
consumers.
(13) Passive computing infrastructure.--The term ``passive
computing infrastructure'' means any intermediary technology
that does not influence or determine the outcome of a decision,
including--
(A) web hosting;
(B) domain registration;
(C) networking;
(D) caching;
(E) data storage; or
(F) cybersecurity.
(14) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, and any territory or
possession of the United States.
(15) Summary report.--The term ``summary report'' means
documentation of a subset of information required to be
addressed by the impact assessment as described in this Act or
determined appropriate by the Commission.
(16) Third-party decision recipient.--The term ``third-
party decision recipient'' means any person, partnership, or
corporation (beyond the consumer and the covered entity) that
receives a copy of or has access to the results of any decision
or judgment that results from a covered entity's deployment of
an automated decision system or augmented critical decision
process.
SEC. 3. ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEMS AND
AUGMENTED CRITICAL DECISION PROCESSES.
(a) Acts Prohibited.--
(1) In general.--It is unlawful for--
(A) any covered entity to violate a regulation
promulgated under subsection (b); or
(B) any person to knowingly provide substantial
assistance to any covered entity in violating
subsection (b).
(2) Preemption of private contracts.--It shall be unlawful
for any covered entity to commit the acts prohibited in
paragraph (1), regardless of specific agreements between
entities or consumers.
(b) Regulations.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), not later than 2
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission
shall, in consultation with the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, the Director of the
National Artificial Intelligence Initiative, the Director of
the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and other relevant
stakeholders, including standards bodies, private industry,
academia, technology experts, and advocates for civil rights,
consumers, and impacted communities, promulgate regulations, in
accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code,
that--
(A) require each covered entity to perform impact
assessment of any--
(i) deployed automated decision system that
was developed for implementation or use, or
that the covered entity reasonably expects to
be implemented or used, in an augmented
critical decision process by any person,
partnership, or corporation that meets the
requirements described in section 2(7)(A)(i);
and
(ii) augmented critical decision process,
both prior to and after deployment by the
covered entity;
(B) require each covered entity to maintain
documentation of any impact assessment performed under
subparagraph (A), including the applicable information
described in section 4(a) for 3 years longer than the
duration of time for which the automated decision
system or augmented critical decision process is
deployed;
(C) require each person, partnership, or
corporation that meets the requirements described in
section 2(7)(A)(i) to disclose their status as a
covered entity to any person, partnership, or
corporation that sells, licenses, or otherwise provides
through a commercial relationship any automated
decision system deployed by the covered entity in an
automated decision system or augmented critical
decision process;
(D) require each covered entity to submit to the
Commission, on an annual basis, a summary report for
ongoing impact assessment of any deployed automated
decision system or augmented critical decision process;
(E) require each covered entity to submit an
initial summary report to the Commission for any new
automated decision system or augmented critical
decision process prior to its deployment by the covered
entity;
(F) allow any person, partnership, or corporation
over which the Commission has jurisdiction under
section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15
U.S.C. 45(a)(2)) that deploys any automated decision
system or augmented critical decision process, but is
not a covered entity, to submit to the Commission a
summary report for any impact assessment performed with
respect to such system or process;
(G) require each covered entity, in performing the
impact assessment described in subparagraph (A), to the
extent possible, to meaningfully consult (including
through participatory design, independent auditing, or
soliciting or incorporating feedback) with relevant
internal stakeholders (such as employees, ethics teams,
and responsible technology teams) and independent
external stakeholders (such as representatives of and
advocates for impacted groups, civil society and
advocates, and technology experts) as frequently as
necessary;
(H) require each covered entity to attempt to
eliminate or mitigate, in a timely manner, any impact
made by an augmented critical decision process that
demonstrates a likely material negative impact that has
legal or similarly significant effects on a consumer's
life;
(I) establish definitions for--
(i) what constitutes ``access to or the
cost, terms, or availability of'' with respect
to a critical decision;
(ii) what constitutes ``possession'',
``management'', ``modification'', and
``control'' with respect to identifying
information;
(iii) the different categories of third-
party decision recipients that a covered entity
must document under section 5(1)(H); and
(iv) any of the services, programs, or
opportunities described in subparagraphs (A)
through (I) of section 2(8) for the purpose of
informing consumers, covered entities, and
regulators, as the Commission deems necessary;
(J) establish guidelines for any person,
partnership, or corporation to calculate the number of
consumers, households, or consumer devices for which
the person, partnership, or corporation possesses,
manages, modifies, or controls identifying information
for the purpose of determining covered entity status;
(K) establish guidelines for a covered entity to
prioritize different automated decision systems and
augmented critical decision processes deployed by the
covered entity for performing impact assessment; and
(L) establish a required format for any summary
report, as described in subparagraphs (D), (E), and
(F), to ensure that such reports are submitted in an
accessible and machine-readable format.
(2) Considerations.--In promulgating the regulations under
paragraph (1), the Commission--
(A) shall take into consideration--
(i) that certain assessment or
documentation of an automated decision system
or augmented critical decision process may only
be possible at particular stages of the
development and deployment of such system or
process or may be limited or not possible based
on the availability of certain types of
information or data or the nature of the
relationship between the covered entity and
consumers;
(ii) the duration of time between summary
report submissions and the timeliness of the
reported information;
(iii) the administrative burden placed on
the Commission and the covered entity;
(iv) the benefits of standardizing and
structuring summary reports for comparative
analysis compared with the benefits of less-
structured narrative reports to provide detail
and flexibility in