Washington – Senators have introduced legislation that would likely require all internet users to provide a government-issued identification to obtain access to internet services. The Kids Online Safety Act aims to institute more stringent age verification requirements and censor some online material from younger internet users.
This bill would effectively place many internet services behind an age verification wall, prevent anonymous surfing, and would require all users – adults or teens – to verify their age before they can access information or content.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association supports the enactment of comprehensive privacy legislation at the federal level, but has concerns about KOSA’s duty of care, vague requirements that would prevent teens from accessing critical information, and compliance provisions that conflict with current trends toward data minimization.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“Protecting young people online is a broadly shared goal. But it would contradict the goals of bills such as this to impose compliance obligations that undermine the privacy and safety of teens. Governments should avoid compliance requirements that would compel digital services to collect more personal information about their users — such as geolocation information and a government-issued identification — particularly when responsible companies are instituting measures to collect and store less data on customers.”