Feed: Slashdot
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Title: Colorado Lawmakers Push for Age Verification at the Operating System
Level

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/26/2332...

Colorado lawmakers are proposing SB26-051, a bill that would require
operating systems to register a user's age bracket and share it with apps via
an API. PCMag reports: The bill comes from state Sen. Matt Ball and Rep. Amy
Paschal, both Democrats. "The intent is to create thoughtful safeguards for
kids online through a privacy-forward framework for age assurance," Ball told
PCMag. "Unlike some laws in other states, SB 51 doesn't require users to
share personally identifiable information or use facial recognition
technology." The legislation also promises to centralize the age check
through the OS, rather than mandating that each app enforce their own age-
verification mechanism, which can involve scanning the user's official ID,
thus raising privacy and security concerns. The bill also forbids the sharing
of the age-bracket data for any other purpose. But it looks like it's easy to
bypass the age check proposed by SB26-051. The legislation itself doesn't
mention any state ID check to verify the owner's age. In addition, the bill
doesn't seem to cover websites, only apps and app stores. The report notes
that the legislation was based on California's bill AB 1043, which was passed
last year and expected to take effect January 1, 2027.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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