U.S. bill would mandate operating system-level age verification

A bipartisan House bill introduced this week, HR 8250, would require operating system providers to verify the age of every user who sets up an account or uses an operating system, shifting age-checking obligations away from individual apps and onto platform owners such as mobile and computer operating system companies.

The Parents Decide Act was introduced by Rep. Josh Gottheimer and Rep. Elise Stefanik.

“With each passing day, the Internet is becoming more and more treacherous for our kids,” Gottheimer said. “We’re not just talking about social media anymore — we’re talking about artificial intelligence and platforms that are shaping how our kids think, feel, and act, often without any real guardrails.”

“Right now, we expect children to self-police their safety online,” Gottheimer continued. “That’s not realistic – and it’s not responsible. Parents should decide what apps their kids can download, what content they can see, and how they interact online – not algorithms or tech companies.”

The bill would require users to provide their date of birth to create an account and use an operating system. If the user is under 18, a parent or legal guardian would have to verify the minor’s age.

Companies would be required to create a system through which app developers can access the information necessary to verify a user’s age, shifting age-verification infrastructure to the operating-system level.

“This approach creates a trusted, consistent standard across platforms,” Gottheimer said. “The phone – the operating system that controls it – will tell the apps and the AI platforms the limits you set for your kid. It gives parents real control, not buried deep in some settings menu, but right in front of them, where it should be.”

Gottheimer said the legislation works alongside broader bipartisan efforts to improve online safety, including Sammy’s Law, the Kids Online Safety Act, and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act.

The bill also would direct operating system providers to build a system allowing app developers to access information needed to verify a user’s age, subject to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules on privacy and data protection.

Enforcement would fall to the FTC, which would be required to issue regulations within 180 days of enactment for shared devices, parent verification, and data protection standards to ensure birth-date information is collected securely and not breached.

The FTC would be required to brief Congress on its rulemaking process, and within 18 months it would have to submit a report on how providers are complying with the new law and whether Congress should update the requirements.

The bill also provides a safe harbor for compliant providers, which might not be held liable under the act if they followed the statute’s requirements and FTC rules. The law would take effect one year after enactment.

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age verification  |  legislation  |  OS-level age verification  |  U.S. Government  |  United States