{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kim.senate.gov/press_release/senators-kim-schiff-lummis-barrasso-introduce-bill-to-protect-children-online-through-new-age-reporting-requirements/", "Senators Kim, Schiff, Lummis, Barrasso Introduce Bill to Protect Children Online through New Age Reporting Requirements", "2026-07-24", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Andy Kim", "K000394", "www.kim.senate.gov", "kim", "https://www.kim.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced the bipartisan Digital Age Assurance Act to protect children online by requiring operating system providers to collect and share users\u2019 ages exclusively with app developers so they can block kids from accessing age-inappropriate content. The bill prioritizes protecting kids\u2019 privacy with a number of provisions preventing kids\u2019 data from being sold or transferred and banning targeted advertisement to children.\n\n\u201cLike most parents, I have a lot of anxiety about keeping my two boys safe from dangers online as they grow up in a world full of ever-evolving technology. We owe it to parents and kids to put guardrails in place before more harm is done. The Digital Age Assurance Act puts kids\u2019 data privacy first as we make sure congress and tech companies do their part to make online spaces safer for our kids,\u201dsaid Senator Kim.\n\n\u201cParents deserve the peace of mind of knowing that when their children use the internet and digital applications, they are shielded from inappropriate and harmful content. And tech companies that host kids on their platforms must be held accountable for protecting young users,\u201d said Senator Schiff. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to work with Senators Kim, Lummis, and Barrasso on a comprehensive federal age-assurance framework that follows California\u2019s important work in this space and ensures that the digital content kids see is age-appropriate and that their privacy is protected from invasive data collection. We have seen what happens when an entire generation of young people grow up without technological guardrails and are left vulnerable to cyberbullying, mental health threats, and more. California has been a leader in requiring online platforms to implement necessary safeguards, and it\u2019s time Congress follow its lead in addressing this issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn Wyoming, we believe protecting our kids and protecting our freedoms go hand in hand, and this bill proves you don\u2019t have to sacrifice one for the other,\u201d said Senator Lummis. \u201cBy keeping government IDs and facial scans out of the equation, the Digital Age Assurance Act gives parents real protection for their children while giving platforms a trusted, privacy-protective way to know when those protections should apply.\u201d\n\nMore kids are getting online, at earlier ages \u2013 with recent data finding that by age 2, 4 in 10 children have their own tablet; by age 4, more than half of children have their own tablet; and by age 8, nearly 1 in 4 children have their own cellphone. The Digital Age Assurance Act works to prioritize kids\u2019 online safety while including substantive child privacy protection rules. Specifically, the bipartisan legislation would:\n\nEstablish a device-level age assurance framework requiring operating system providers to collect a user\u2019s age during operating system account creation or from existing account holders,\n\nRequire operating systems to convert a user\u2019s age into privacy-protective age brackets\u2014under 13; ages 13\u201315; age 16; and age 17 or older\u2014rather than sharing the user\u2019s exact age or date of birth,\n\nCreate a secure, real-time operating system signal that applications, browsers, application stores, and covered websites must request and use as the primary indicator of a user\u2019s age,\n\nPermit signals to include age verification methods that minimize data disclosure, including the use of verifiable credentials and zero-knowledge proofs,\n\nRequire children under age 17 to link their operating system account to a parent or legal guardian account and allow the user or linked parent or guardian to view the child\u2019s age bracket data,\n\nEstablish a process for resolving conflicting age information, including user notice, an opportunity to correct inaccurate information, and distribution of an updated age signal,\n\nProhibit developers and covered website operators from requesting more age information than the standardized signal or sharing age bracket data with third parties,\n\nImpose data minimization requirements limiting the collection, retention, use, and combination of age-related information, including prohibitions on using age bracket data for profiling, engagement optimization, or targeted advertising,\n\nProhibit the transfer of children\u2019s personal data to data brokers, while preserving contextual advertising that does not rely on personal data or behavioral profiling,\n\nEstablish enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General, including civil penalties of up to $2,500 per negligent violation and $7,500 per knowing or intentional violation, which may be multiplied by the number of children affected,\n\nInclude competition safeguards preventing operating system providers and application stores from imposing more restrictive age-related requirements on third-party applications or using age bracket data to disadvantage competitors, and\n\nCreate a national baseline that preempts only conflicting State requirements while preserving Federal or State laws that provide protections at least as strong as the Act.\n\nThe Digital Age Assurance Act is endorsed by: American Psychological Association, Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center, The Arc of New Jersey, Digital Defenders United, and New Jersey Children\u2019s Alliance.\n\n\u201cParents shouldn\u2019t have to choose between letting their kids participate in the digital world and keeping them safe. That\u2019s exactly the balance I set out to strike with California\u2019s Digital Age Assurance Act \u2014 protecting children online without sacrificing their privacy,\u201dsaid Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D- CA). \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to see Congress build on California\u2019s leadership with a bipartisan, privacy-first framework that empowers parents, protects children, and establishes a consistent national standard for age assurance. Parents deserve confidence. Kids deserve safety. Families should never have to sacrifice one for the other.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-25T07:13:44Z", "2026-07-25T07:15:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kim.senate.gov/press_release/senators-kim-schiff-lummis-barrasso-introduce-bill-to-protect-children-online-through-new-age-reporting-requirements/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9235548786818981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}