Sponsor
Erin Houchin
Representative · R-IN
Representative · R-IN
The bill strengthens parental control and privacy protections for minors and centralizes enforcement to improve compliance, but it raises compliance costs, risks reduced access to services for under‑16 users, introduces verification and autonomy trade-offs for teens, and shifts enforcement balance toward the federal government.
Parents and guardians gain clear, enforceable control: platforms must obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting or processing covered minors' personal data and parents can withdraw consent and have accounts/data removed on request.
Children under 16 are better protected from engagement-maximizing design and automated recommendation systems that use their personal data, reducing exposure to manipulative features.
Consumers and enforcers get stronger, more predictable federal enforcement because the FTC is assigned primary authority and may use its full FTC Act powers, with coordination mechanisms with states.
Children and teens (and their parents) may lose access to social, educational, or support services because platforms could restrict or remove features for users under 16 or when parents withdraw or fail to re-consent.
Small and mid-sized platforms will face substantial compliance costs to build verifiable parental-consent systems, age verification, deletion flows, and portability tools — costs that may be passed to consumers or reduce free services.
Age verification and third-party validation can misclassify minors, expose sensitive verification data, and spark disputes (including over emancipation), causing wrongful denials or delays in access for youth.
Based on analysis of 9 sections of legislative text.
Requires verifiable parental consent before covered platforms process personal data of users under 16, adds deletion/portability rules, and empowers FTC/state enforcement.
Official title: To prohibit covered platforms from processing personal data with respect to covered minors without obtaining the verifiable consent of a parent of the covered minor, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 1, 2026 by Erin Houchin · Last progress September 1, 2026
Requires covered online platforms to get verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or sharing personal data of users under 16, with narrow exceptions for limited age verification. Sets rules for notice, consent renewal, data deletion, portability, and parental withdrawal. Makes violations enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission and by state attorneys general acting in parens patriae. Sets an 18-month delayed effective date, a five-day cure period for platforms that discover an underage user, and preserves free-speech protections and state laws that offer greater protections for minors.