Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted a letter to South Dakota’s legislature expressing its concerns about the South Dakota Age Verification Act. CCIA supports the digital citizenship programs states have enacted that encourage responsible behavior online and teach parents to use the many tools available to set up online time limits and decide what content settings are appropriate for their children. Age verification and parental consent requirements like those in the bill raise serious data privacy and security concerns. Moreover, the bill would mandate such requirements at the device operating system or application store level which overlooks access to websites via desktops, browsers, or other devices, and therefore would not achieve the goals legislators have outlined.
The following statement is attributed to CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender, who is testifying at a hearing on this issue Wednesday.
“Younger internet users should have greater privacy protections, and unfortunately many bills aiming to protect children would require companies to collect additional personal data to achieve and prove compliance. Parents rather than governments or companies are better positioned than anyone else to decide what material is appropriate for their children and companies offer numerous tools to enable them to set content and time limits for their families. We encourage South Dakota to instead enact digital literacy programs for parents and younger users to ensure they are aware of the many tools and products at their disposal to tailor and personalize their online experience.”
