Solidifying Habitual and Institutional Explanations of Liability and Defenses Act or the SHIELD Act

This bill provides that in any enforcement action the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) must prove a violation of law and may not base the action solely on guidelines, policy statements, or similar guidance.

The bill provides that no guidelines, general statements of policy, or similar guidance issued by the FTC shall confer any rights or bind the FTC or any person, state, or locality to the approach recommended therein. Further, the bill authorizes a defendant in an enforcement action to offer any such guidelines, policy statements, or similar guidance as evidence of compliance with a provision of law that is enforced by the FTC.