H.R. 2612 — DELETE Act

This section directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations not later than one year after enactment requiring data brokers to register annually with the FTC beginning 18 months after enactment and to publicly disclose specified information (e.g., contact details, opt-out methods if any, data types and sources collected, credentialing processes) in a downloadable, machine-readable format, subject to trade secret protections and with an accuracy disclaimer. The section further directs the FTC to establish, through regulations promulgated not later than one year after enactment, a secure centralized deletion system operated on its website allowing individuals—free of charge and via a single standardized form submitting identifiers (e.g., email, phone, address)—to request that all registered data brokers delete their personal information tied to persistent identifiers and cease future collection (unless specified otherwise). (Thus, registered data brokers must, beginning eight months after the regulations' effective date, check FTC-maintained hashed registries at least every 31 days to process matches; they may also query the registries prior to collecting tied data.) The FTC must publish related guidance not later than six months after the regulations' effective date.