HR 8250
Parents Decide Act
Take action
Record your position on this measure.
Sign in to record your position, submit testimony, or contact your legislator.
Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To President
- Became Law
Bill overview
The Parents Decide Act requires operating system providers to verify the age of users, necessitating that users provide their date of birth upon account creation and requiring parental verification for those under 18. It also mandates a system for app developers to access age verification data. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will enforce these requirements and establish regulations regarding data security and parental control, reporting back to Congress on implementation and potential updates.
Key provisions
- Operating system providers must require users to provide their date of birth to create an account.
- Parents or legal guardians must verify the date of birth of users under 18.
- Operating system providers must create a system for app developers to access age verification data.
- The FTC will enforce the requirements through regulations.
- Regulations must address data security and privacy.
- Regulations must ensure parental control over younger users’ access.
- The FTC must brief Congress on the rulemaking process.
- The FTC must submit a report to Congress on how operating system providers are complying with the law.
Who is affected
- Operating system providers
- App developers
- Computer and mobile device users
- Parents and legal guardians of minors
- The Federal Trade Commission
Notable changes
- Establishes a federal requirement for age verification of operating system users.
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
Arguments in favor
Reasons to support this legislation.
No arguments in favor have been submitted.
Submit yoursArguments opposed
Reasons to oppose this legislation.
No arguments opposed have been submitted.
Submit yoursRead the latest version inline or switch to a previous version.
119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 8250
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To require operating system providers to verify the age of any user of an operating system, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Parents Decide Act
.
Require any user of the operating system to provide the date of birth of the user in order to—
set up an account on the operating system; and
use the operating system.
If the relevant user of the operating system is under 18 years of age, require a parent or legal guardian of the user to verify the date of birth of the user.
A violation of this section or a regulation promulgated under this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate, under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regulations to carry out this section, including regulations relating to the following:
How an operating system provider can—
verify the date of birth of a parent or legal guardian described in subsection (a)(2); and
carry out the requirements described in subsection (a) with respect to an operating system of such provider that may be shared by individuals of varying ages.
is collected in a secure manner to maintain the privacy of the user or the parent or legal guardian of the user; and
is not stolen or breached.
How an operating system provider shall—
ensure an app developer can access information collected by the operating system provider to carry out this section and any regulation promulgated under this section, subject to the data protection standards under subparagraph (B), to verify the date of birth of a user of an app of the app developer; and
ensure the parent or legal guardian of a user of an operating system who is under 18 years of age is allowed to control what such user is allowed to access on a device.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall brief Congress on the following information:
The rulemaking process of the Commission with respect to such regulations.
Any considerations of the Commission with respect to implementing such regulations.
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on—
any recommendation for legislative action related to updating such requirements.
This section, and any regulation promulgated pursuant to subsection (d)(1), shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
In this section:
The term app
means a software application or electronic service that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device.
The term app developer
means a person that owns or controls an app that is available for use in the United States.
The term Commission
means the Federal Trade Commission.
The term operating system
means software that supports the basic functions of a computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device.
The term operating system provider
means a person that develops, licenses, or controls the operating system on a computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device.