H.R. 8250

119 HR 8250 IH: Parents Decide Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-04-13
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 8250  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Parents Decide Act  .
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.