[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8250 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8250
To require operating system providers to verify the age of any user of
an operating system, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 13, 2026
Mr. Gottheimer (for himself and Ms. Stefanik) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require operating system providers to verify the age of any user of
an operating system, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Parents Decide Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRED AGE VERIFICATION FOR USERS OF OPERATING SYSTEMS.
(a) Requirements.--An operating system provider, with respect to
any operating system of such provider, shall carry out the following:
(1) Require any user of the operating system to provide the
date of birth of the user in order to--
(A) set up an account on the operating system; and
(B) use the operating system.
(2) If the relevant user of the operating system is under
18 years of age, require a parent or legal guardian of the user
to verify the date of birth of the user.
(3) Develop a system to allow an app developer to access
any information as is necessary, collected by the operating
system to carry out this section and any regulation promulgated
under this section, to verify the date of birth of a user of an
app of the app developer.
(b) Safe Harbor.--An operating system provider may not be held
liable for a violation of a provision of this Act or a regulation
promulgated under this Act if the provider follows the requirements
described in such provision or regulation.
(c) Enforcement by Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
this section or a regulation promulgated under this section
shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.
57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall enforce
this section and any regulation promulgated under this section
in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same
jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms
and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.
41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.
Any person who violates this section or a regulation
promulgated under this section shall be subject to the
penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities
provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
(d) Regulations.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate,
under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regulations
to carry out this section, including regulations relating to
the following:
(A) How an operating system provider can--
(i) verify the date of birth of a parent or
legal guardian described in subsection (a)(2);
and
(ii) carry out the requirements described
in subsection (a) with respect to an operating
system of such provider that may be shared by
individuals of varying ages.
(B) Data protection standards related to how an
operating system provider shall ensure a date of birth
collected by the operating system provider from a user,
or the parent or legal guardian of the user, to carry
out this section and any regulation promulgated under
this section--
(i) is collected in a secure manner to
maintain the privacy of the user or the parent
or legal guardian of the user; and
(ii) is not stolen or breached.
(C) How an operating system provider shall--
(i) ensure an app developer can access
information collected by the operating system
provider to carry out this section and any
regulation promulgated under this section,
subject to the data protection standards under
subparagraph (B), to verify the date of birth
of a user of an app of the app developer; and
(ii) ensure the parent or legal guardian of
a user of an operating system who is under 18
years of age is allowed to control what such
user is allowed to access on a device.
(2) Briefing to congress.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall
brief Congress on the following information:
(A) The rulemaking process of the Commission with
respect to such regulations.
(B) Any considerations of the Commission with
respect to implementing such regulations.
(e) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report
on--
(1) how operating system providers carry out the
requirements described in subsection (a); and
(2) any recommendation for legislative action related to
updating such requirements.
(f) Effective Date.--This section, and any regulation promulgated
pursuant to subsection (d)(1), shall take effect on the date that is 1
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) App.--The term ``app'' means a software application or
electronic service that may be run or directed by a user on a
computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing
device.
(2) App developer.--The term ``app developer'' means a
person that owns or controls an app that is available for use
in the United States.
(3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(4) Operating system.--The term ``operating system'' means
software that supports the basic functions of a computer,
mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device.
(5) Operating system provider.--The term ``operating system
provider'' means a person that develops, licenses, or controls
the operating system on a computer, mobile device, or any other
general purpose computing device.
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