Suggested Law: The Employee Innovation and Privacy Protection Act

The Employee Innovation and Privacy Protection Act

Forward

For too long, corporations have exploited power imbalances to bully and harass employees and ex-employees through unethical surveillance, extracting innovative ideas using advanced AI technologies. This injustice violates privacy, cripples ability to profit from ingenuity, and erodes entrepreneurship/economic dynamism - hitting disadvantaged groups hardest.

We cannot allow AI to become an instrument of regression - enabling incumbents to suppress future innovation from individuals through harassment. This Act counterbalances that imbalance, shielding the sanctity of human ingenuity and ideas during/after employment. Its reforms preserve open entrepreneurship and invention unencumbered by technological bullying.

Section 1 - Definitions

"Employee"...

"Consumer"...

"Innovation"...

"AI Surveillance"...

Section 2 - Prohibited Practices

(a) Using AI surveillance to identify, replicate or benefit from an employee's/ex-employee's innovations without consent.

(b) Using AI systems to extract innovations from employee/ex-employee data without permission.

(c) Persistent AI monitoring of online activities related to innovations for unfair advantage over employees/ex-employees.

(d) AI surveillance of personal home networks/devices to identify employee/ex-employee innovations.

(e) Engaging in a pattern of harassment through AI surveillance aimed at misappropriating innovations.

Section 3 - Employee/Consumer Rights

(a) Protection from unauthorized AI surveillance/extraction of innovations.

(b) Notice before AI analyzes personal/innovation information for commercial benefit.

(c) Right to opt-out of AI collection/commercialization of innovation data.

(d) Right to deletion of personal innovation data.

(e) Right to bring legal action for damages due to violations.

Section 4 - Corporate Requirements

(a) Reasonable data security for protecting employee/consumer innovations.

(b) Obtaining affirmative consent before applying AI to innovations.

(c) Allowing access to view employee personal innovation data collected.

(d) Providing transparency into AI systems' functionality involving employee data.

(e) Conducting AI ethics reviews to prevent abusive practices impacting employees.

(f) Enacting protocols to prevent harassment via AI surveillance related to innovations.

Section 5 - Enforcement

(a) Federal Trade Commission shall enforce the Act and issue regulations.

(b) State Attorneys General and employees can bring civil actions for violations.

Section 6 - Penalties

(a) Up to $100,000 civil penalty per intentional violation.

(b) Disgorgement of all profits from illegally extracted innovations.

(c) Disgorged profits for restitution to victims or employee defense funds.

(d) Payment of back wages to employees deriving income from violation activities.

(e) Mandatory 10x opposing parties' court costs.

(f) For harassment via illegal surveillance of former employees' innovations:

(i) Penalties doubled

(ii) Employee's full legal fees paid

(iii) Up to 2 years' imprisonment for executives involved

(g) 10x total compensation paid to employees harassed during time inconvenienced.

(h) Courts can apply punitive damages for egregious, harassing violations.

Section 7 - Employee Defense Fund

(a) $5 billion fund with inflation adjustment to provide legal resources for individuals accused of violations by former employers related to innovations.

(b) Can cover attorney fees, access to counsel, investigations, and defense services.

(c) Administered by Department of Labor with eligibility criteria.

(d) No funds for willful violations of laws.

(e) Annual reports to Congress on fund allocation.

Section 8 - Whistleblower Protections

(a) Employees reporting violations get protection and bounties up to $5 million.

Section 9 - Employee Defense Provisions in Litigation

(a) If a company brings legal action against an employee or former employee related to violations under this Act, and the employee/former employee is found to have no liability, a mandatory defense fund shall be created for the employee/former employee.

(b) This fund shall consist of liquid assets equal to 25% of the company's equity valuation at the time the litigation commenced.

(c) The fund shall be managed by an independent third-party overseer appointed by the court.

(d) The employee/former employee shall have unrestricted access to draw from this fund for legal costs, attorney fees, investigations, and other litigation-related expenses stemming from defending against the company's actions.

(e) The company shall be liable for all costs required to initially establish and replenish the 25% equity fund.

(f) If the employee/former employee ultimately prevails by defeating the company's claims, the court shall strongly consider recommending penalties against the company, including:

(i) Punitive damages

(ii) Censures against the company executives involved

(iii) Court supervision of the company's innovation protocols

(iv) Potential winding up and dissolution in egregious cases

(g) Any surplus remaining in the defense fund after litigation shall be awarded to the employee/former employee as additional compensatory damages.

This Act prohibits harassment, surveillance, and siphoning of innovations from employees/ex-employees without consent using AI. It empowers them with rights over their innovation data, requires corporate safeguards, and issues harsh penalties - including disgorgement, compensation, fee-shifting, fines, and potential imprisonment to deter exploitation through technological power imbalances.

It provides a legal defense fund and whistleblower protections to equalize leverage against corporations with vast AI/financial resources. These reforms uphold the grassroots entrepreneurial spirit and enshrine the guiding principle that ideas born from human ingenuity belong to the individuals themselves, during and after employment.