Tell Congress: Don’t Force Age Checks Online | EFF Action Center

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Privacy

Tell Congress: Don’t Force Age Checks Online

Congress is preparing to vote on the KIDS Act, a sweeping internet bill that would pressure websites and apps to determine users’ ages before allowing them to read websites, send private messages, or participate in online communities.

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The KIDS Act Would Require Age Checks To Get Online

While supporters insist the bill does not require age verification and have included language saying so, multiple parts of the package impose obligations that depend on websites taking steps to know who is under 18 years old. Most companies are likely to respond to this legal risk by collecting much more personal information from users, like drivers’ licenses or passports. Others will rely on age-estimation systems that guess users' ages based on user activity or facial scans and inevitably make mistakes. Either way, users lose.

The bill also pressures online services to create and enforce content moderation policies for broad categories of lawful speech, and creates new risks for encrypted and private communications. Instead of encouraging privacy and security online, Congress is pushing websites toward more monitoring, more restrictions, and more age gates.

For internet users of all ages, the KIDS Act threatens our privacy and freedom online. It’s a step towards an internet where we’re forced to prove our age before we read, post, or communicate online.

We need your help now—tell Congress to reject it today.

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The KIDS Act Would Require Age Checks To Get Online

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I urge you to oppose the KIDS Act, H.R. 7757.

Supporters say the bill does not require age verification, but multiple parts of the package depend on websites and apps determining which users are under 18. In practice, that will pressure online services to collect more personal information from users or rely on error-prone age-estimation systems.

The bill encourages broader monitoring of online activity, creates pressure to restrict lawful speech, and raises concerns for encrypted and private communications.

Congress can’t protect young people with more surveillance, more age checks, and more barriers to accessing and communicating online. Privacy laws that protect all Americans would serve us much better than this proposal.

Please vote against the KIDS Act.

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