The bipartisan Parents Decide Act, introduced by Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Elise Stefanik, proposes mandatory age verification for all users accessing operating systems on computers and mobile devices.

Key Points

• The bill requires operating system providers to collect dates of birth from all users to set up or access devices.
• Parents or legal guardians would be required to verify the age of any user under 18 years old.
• Operating systems would be mandated to share user verification data with third-party app developers.
• The legislation delegates the creation of specific verification methods and enforcement protocols to the Federal Trade Commission.
• The proposal follows a trend of legislative efforts to implement age-gating across social media platforms and app stores.

Why it Matters

This legislation represents a significant shift toward mandatory digital identification for general-purpose computing, potentially ending online anonymity for all users. By delegating implementation details to the Federal Trade Commission, the bill concentrates regulatory power and raises concerns regarding user privacy and the future of open internet access.