,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agcb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #ah1      
#bjbc,mr4 ,scott of ,south ,carolina    
7for himself1 ,mr4 ,wicker1 and ,mr4    
,lankford7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,commerce1         
,science1 and ,transportation  ,a ,,bill
  ,to require application stores to     
publicly list the country of origin of  
the applications that they distribute1  
and to provide consumers the ability to 
protect themselves4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,know    
,your ,app ,act4  #b4 ,findings2 sense  
of ,congress  7a7 ,findings ,congress   
finds the following3 7#a7 ,minors       
engaging with internet-linked           
applications face heightened            
susceptibility to privacy risks and     
potential exploitation through those    
applications4 ,it is crucial for parents
 and guardians to possess comprehensive 
knowledge about the applications being  

accessed so that they can make informed 
decisions to protect their children4    
7#b7 ,many users are unaware of the     
country of origin of the applications   
they download and use1 as well as the   
data handling practices of the          
developers behind those applications4   
,this lack of transparency can lead to  
potential risks for users1 including    
exposure to foreign government          
surveillance1 data breaches1 and privacy
 violations4 ,users have a right to know
 baseline information on the country of 
origin so that they can personally make 
decisions to mitigate the threat to     
their personal and biometric            
information4  7#c7 ,the potential for   
foreign governments to access user data 
through internet-linked applications    
presents national security risks4 ,these
 risks may include the collection of    
sensitive information1 espionage1 and   
potential influence over critical       
infrastructure4  7#d7 ,increasing       
transparency and providing users with   

the necessary information to make       
informed decisions about the            
applications they download can help     
protect consumer privacy and security4  
7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense
 of ,congress that covered companies and
 developers already posses the          
information necessary to provide        
adequate transparency to consumers4  #c4
 ,public listing of country of origin of
 applications  7a7 ,definitions ,in this
 section3 7#a7 ,application ,the term   
application means a software application
 or electronic service that may be run  
or directed by a user on a computer1 a  
mobile device1 or any other general     
purpose computing device4  7#b7         
,application store ,the term application
 store means a publicly available       
website1 software application1          
electronic service1 or platform provided
 by a device manufacturer that-- 7,a7   
distributes applications from           
third-party developers to users of a    
computer1 a mobile device1 or any other 

general purpose computing device2 and   
7,b7 has more than #bj1jjj1jjj users in 
the ,united ,states4  7#c7 ,application 
store page ,the term application store  
page means the individual1 dedicated    
listing page within an application store
 that serves as the primary source of   
information on a specific application   
and provides detailed information about 
the application1 including the name of  
the application1 the developer1 a       
description1 user ratings and reviews1  
screenshots or previews1 pricing1 and   
system requirements4  7#d7 ,assistant   
,secretary ,the term ,assistant         
,secretary means the ,assistant         
,secretary of ,commerce for             
,communications and ,information4  7#e7 
,beneficial owner ,the term beneficial  
owner-- 7,a7 means1 with respect to a   
developer of an application1 an         
individual who1 directly or indirectly1 
through any contract1 arrangement1      
understanding1 relationship1 or         
otherwise-- 7i7 exercises substantial   

control over the developer2 or  7ii7    
owns or controls not less than #be      
percent of the ownership interests of   
the developer2 and  7,b7 does not       
include-- 7i7 a minor child1 as defined 
in the ,state in which the entity is    
formed1 if the information of the parent
 or guardian of the minor child is      
reported in accordance with this        
section2  7ii7 an individual acting as a
 nominee1 intermediary1 custodian1 or   
agent on behalf of another individual2  
7iii7 an individual acting solely as an 
employee of a corporation1 limited      
liability company1 or other similar     
entity and whose control over or        
economic benefits from such entity is   
derived solely from the employment      
status of the individual2  7iv7 an      
individual whose only interest in a     
corporation1 limited liability company1 
or other similar entity is through a    
right of inheritance2 or  7v7 a creditor
 of a corporation1 limited liability    
company1 or other similar entity1 unless

 the creditor meets the requirements of 
subparagraph 7,a74  7#f7 ,country of    
concern ,the term country of concern    
means a country that is on the list     
described in section #d4  7#g7 ,country 
of origin ,the term country of origin-- 
7,a7 with respect to the developer of an
 application1 means the country in which
 the developer is headquartered or      
principally operates2 and  7,b7 with    
respect to the beneficial owner of the  
developer of an application-- 7i7 except
 as provided in clause 7ii71 means the  
country from which the beneficial owner 
principally exercises control over the  
developer2 and  7ii7 if the beneficial  
owner exercises any control over the    
developer from a country of concern1    
means that country4  7#h7 ,covered      
company ,the term covered company means 
any person1 entity1 or organization that
 owns1 controls1 or operates an         
application store that serves customers 
in the ,united ,states4  7#i7 ,developer
 ,the term developer means a person that

 creates1 owns1 or controls an          
application and is responsible for the  
design1 development1 maintenance1 and   
distribution of the application to end  
users through an application store4     
7#aj7 ,primary country of origin ,the   
term primary country of origin1 with    
respect to an application-- 7,a7 except 
as provided in subparagraph 7,b71 means 
the country of origin of the developer  
of the application2 and  7,b7 if the    
country of origin of the beneficial     
owner of the developer of the           
application is a country of concern1    
means that country4  7#aa7 ,prominent   
display ,the term prominent display1    
with respect to an application store    
page1 means a banner that is immediately
 and clearly visible when the           
application store page is accessed4  7b7
 ,requirements  7#a7 ,public listing    
,the ,assistant ,secretary shall require
 a covered company to publicly list1 in 
a prominent display on the application  
store page1 the primary country of      

origin of each application distributed  
through an application store owned1     
controlled1 or operated by the covered  
company4  7#b7 ,protections regarding   
certain foreign countries  7,a7 ,filter 
for certain applications ,the ,assistant
 ,secretary shall require a covered     
company to provide users of the covered 
company's application store with the    
option to filter out applications whose 
primary country of origin is a country  
of concern4  7,b7 ,disclaimer for       
certain applications ,the ,assistant    
,secretary shall require that if the    
primary country of origin of an         
application is a country of concern1 a  
covered company that distributes the    
application through an application store
 shall provide a disclaimer1 in a       
prominent display on the application    
store page1 that data from the          
application could be accessed by a      
foreign government4  7#c7 ,update of    
information  7,a7 ,in general ,the      
,assistant ,secretary shall require a   

developer to notify a covered company   
whose application store distributes the 
developer's application of any change   
in-- 7i7 the country of origin of the   
developer2  7ii7 the beneficial owner of
 the developer2 or  7iii7 the country of
 origin of the beneficial owner of the  
developer4  7,b7 ,developer             
certification  7i7 ,in general ,the     
,assistant ,secretary shall require a   
developer to certify to each covered    
company that owns1 controls1 or operates
 an application store through which the 
developer's application is distributed1 
not less frequently than annually1 that 
the information displayed on the        
application store page with respect to  
the application1 including primary      
country of origin and beneficial        
ownership1 is up-to-date4  7ii7         
,violations ,if a developer violates    
clause 7i7-- 7,i7 the covered company   
shall issue the developer a series of   
not fewer than #c warnings over a period
 of not more than #ij days2 and  7,,ii7 

if the developer does not correct the   
violation by the date that is #ij days  
after the date on which the first       
warning is issued under subclause 7,i71 
the covered company shall remove the    
application of the developer from the   
application store4  7#d7 ,reporting     
mechanism ,the ,assistant ,secretary    
shall require a covered company to      
establish a mechanism that-- 7,a7 allows
 a user of the covered company's        
application store1 an employee of a     
developer whose application is          
distributed through the covered         
company's application store1 or an      
associated third party to report a      
potential violation of this subsection  
by a developer1 including incorrect     
information displayed on the application
 store page2 and  7,b7 allows a report  
under subparagraph 7,a7 to be made      
anonymously4  7#e7 ,written policy for  
appeals of removals ,the ,assistant     
,secretary shall require a covered      
company to establish1 for any           

application store owned1 controlled1 or 
operated by the covered company1 a clear
 written policy for how a developer can 
appeal the removal of an application    
from the application store and have the 
application be reinstated4  #d4 ,list of
 foreign countries with national laws   
resulting in government control over    
applications  7a7 ,in general ,not later
 than #ahj days after the date of       
enactment of this ,act1 and annually    
thereafter1 the ,secretary of the       
,treasury and the ,secretary of         
,commerce shall jointly develop and     
submit to ,congress a list of each      
foreign country that has in effect a    
national law that may subject a         
developer or application to control by  
the government of the country over      
content moderation1 algorithm design1 or
 user data transfers4  7b7 ,publication 
,with respect to the list developed     
under subsection 7a7-- 7#a7 the         
,secretary of the ,treasury shall make  
the list publicly available on the      

website of the ,department of the       
,treasury2 and  7#b7 the ,secretary of  
,commerce shall make the list publicly  
available on the website of the         
,department of ,commerce4  #e4          
,limitation of enforcement and          
regulation ,the ,assistant ,secretary   
may not exercise any enforcement        
authority or regulatory authority over a
 covered company or developer that is   
not provided under this ,act1 including 
through rulemaking4  #f4 ,enforcement   
,the ,attorney ,general may bring a     
civil action in an appropriate district 
court of the ,united ,states against any
 covered company that violates this     
,act4