Flurry of Kids Privacy Bills Starts Before States' 2026 Sessions
State legislators across the country already have filed several kids online safety bills ahead of 2026 legislative sessions. An attorney earlier this week predicted an “avalanche of new state laws” related to child online safety over the next one to two years (see 2512170031).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Privacy Daily provides accurate coverage of newsworthy developments in data protection legislation, regulation, litigation, and enforcement for privacy professionals responsible for ensuring effective organizational data privacy compliance.
In the month of December so far, Privacy Daily observed prefiling or introduction of about 20 bills related to topics including kids privacy, age verification and age-appropriate design bill in states including Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington state and Wisconsin.
On Thursday, for example, ten Democratic Pennsylvania House members filed HB-2108. “While COPPA gives parents some of the tools needed to control the personal information that companies can collect from children under the age of 13, our legislation would hold tech companies to a few standards to ensure that our children are having safe, age-appropriate online experience,” said a Dec. 8 memo about H-2108.
“This bill would require businesses with an online presence to complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment before offering new online services, products, or features that are likely to be accessed by children under the age of 18,” the memo said. Additionally, the bill would ban those companies from using a child’s personal information; collecting, selling or retaining a child’s geolocation; profiling a child by default; or leading children to provide personal information, it said.
Earlier this week, Michigan lawmakers filed bills (SB-758, HB-5357) related to establishing a kids code and on prohibiting addictive feeds on social media (SB-757). In South Carolina, Rep. Brandon Guffey (R) -- who previously has sponsored comprehensive privacy legislation -- filed a social media age-verification bill (H-4591).
Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Senate on Monday scheduled a Jan. 8 hearing on the prefiled SB-648, a bill to require age verification before users can access material that may be harmful to minors.