State laws that require age verification to access adult websites fail a constitutional cost-benefit analysis and are easy to circumvent, particularly for teens, according to a study by free-market think tank Phoenix Center.
Opponents of social media age-verification requirements Thursday cast a Michigan bill as outdated, bad for consumer privacy and likely to draw a lawsuit. However, at the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee hearing, sponsor Rep. Mark Tisdel (R) repeatedly said his legislation is meant to hammer home a critical concept: “Minors can’t consent.”
While age assurance is a useful tool to ensure children have appropriate access to the internet, it's not a silver bullet and must be implemented thoughtfully, a Google official and other privacy experts said during a Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) Monday.
Though the FTC is supposed to ensure “transparency and accountability,” it has fallen short during President Donald Trump’s second term, ex-Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said during a "people's oversight" hearing hosted Wednesday by Public Knowledge. Another former FTC official during Trump's first term, Bilal Sayyed, said the agency's decline began during the Biden administration and has continued.
The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), k-ID and other stakeholders launched the OpenAge Initiative to develop an open standard for privacy-preserving age assurance, OpenAge announced Monday.
Former officials at the FTC and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau co-authored a guide on using existing privacy and consumer protection laws to regulate against AI chatbot harms to minors, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said Monday. EPIC co-wrote the white paper.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said Monday the key to successful regulation of AI includes having a light touch that respects innovation, but also being mindful of protecting children.
The European Commission, Australian eSafety Commissioner and U.K. Office of Communications will collaborate to boost child safety on digital platforms, they announced Friday.
Privacy and AI-focused state lawmakers will meet with congressional offices next week to discuss legislative priorities, Virginia Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (D) told us in an interview Friday. For 2026, she expressed interest in updating Virginia’s comprehensive privacy law and regulating AI chatbots with Democrats now in full control of the legislative and executive branches after Tuesday's election.
The California Privacy Protection Agency is exploring possible rulemakings in the categories of employee data, opt-out preference signals (OOPS), disclosures and notices and reducing friction exercising consumer privacy rights, CalPrivacy staff told the board at its Friday meeting. Unlike with the previous rulemaking package on automated decision-making technology and other subjects, the agency plans to “present more targeted recommendations addressing only one or two policy issues at a time,” said General Counsel Philip Laird.