Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Chinese-owned Applications Using The Information of Our Nation Act of 2023” or the “CAUTION Act of 2023”.
Chinese-owned Applications Using The Information of Our Nation Act of 2023
A BILL
To require any person that sells or distributes a mobile application that the Federal Government has prohibited for Government-owned devices to disclose that fact to any individual who downloads, updates, or otherwise uses such application, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Disclosure requirements
In general— Any person that sells or distributes a covered application that the Federal Government has prohibited the use of for information technology and required to be removed from such information technology under the No TikTok on Government Devices Act (Public Law 117–328), before any individual downloads or updates the covered application, shall disclose, in a clear and conspicuous manner, that the use of the covered application is prohibited on Government-owned devices under law.
False information— It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly provide false information with respect to the disclosure required under this section.
Enforcement—
Unfair and deceptive acts or practices— A violation of this section 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)).
Powers of the Federal Trade Commission—
In general— The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this section 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 section.
Privileges and immunities— Any person that violates this section shall be subject to the penalties, provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
Authority preserved— Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission under any other provision of law.
Effective date— This section shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Definitions— In this section:
Covered application— The term covered application has the meaning given that term in section 102 of division R of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328).
Individual— The term individual means a natural person residing in the United States.
Information technology— The term information technology has the meaning given that term in section 102 of division R of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117–328).