Restricting Monitoring Technology in Home Media Devices (H.R. 709)

What is H.R. 709?

(Updated July 5, 2019)

This bill -- known as the We Are Watching You Act -- would prohibit video service operators from collecting visual or audio data using cameras or microphones built in to DVRs or set-top TV boxes without express permission from the consumer. Should viewers opt in to the monitoring, the bill would mandate that the surveilling company display a "we are watching you" message on the screen and provide information about the types of data being collected. 

While no such "Big Brother" monitoring is in devices yet, Verizon filed a patent for such monitoring technology in 2012, with the monitors being able to detect if viewers were eating, exercising, reading or sleeping in the vicinity of the monitoring device. (The patent was rejected.)

Argument in favor

Consumers should have the choice of whether or not they want their media devices to monitor them, and be able to be aware of when the devices are doing so.

Argument opposed

Consumers can already buy products without monitoring, and the government shouldn't be regulating the features of media devices.

Impact

People buying new media devices; media device manufacturers.

Cost of H.R. 709

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) explained in a press release that his bill would protect consumer privacy:

"These DVRs would essentially observe consumers as they watch television as a way to super-target ads. It is an incredible invasion of privacy. Given what we have recently learned about the access that the government has to the phone numbers we call, the emails we send and the websites we visit, it is important for consumers to decide for themselves whether they want this technology."

Of Note: This bill has been introduced twice previously. Rep. Capuano introduced the bill in the 113th Congress but it never reached the House floor for a vote. He did the same in the 114th Congress, when it met a similar fate.

The monitoring technology that this bill regulates exists already, but it has an off switch. According to Adweek:

"Microsoft's new Kinect also uses sophisticated tracking to detect body positions, but the sensor can be turned off and the consumer is in control of their own personal data."

Media: 

• Sponsoring Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) Press Release
• Adweek
• The Boston Globe
• The Hill