New York S8102 (Device Age Checks)
New York, United States- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Became Law
Would push age verification down to the device, operating system, and app store, so a phone checks your age before its software works normally.
Latest update
Amended and recommitted to Consumer Protection as S8102B
This bill is still moving
This bill is still moving, so there's still time to push back.
Contact LawmakersWhat it does
New York's S8102 would require device makers to run an age check when a device is set up, then send a digital signal through an API telling apps and services whether the user is a minor and which age category they fall in. The bill labels this "age assurance," its term for any method that can reasonably determine a user's age category and resist circumvention, and it lets the Attorney General write the compliance rules. The methods it reaches for include biometric estimation and government-issued ID.
Why it matters
Building the age gate into the hardware and the operating system puts a single checkpoint in front of everything a phone does. One clearance covers every app at once. California's AB 1043 asks the operating system for a self-declared age signal; New York's version reaches for biometrics and government ID and ties app activity to a verified identity.
Our take
The child-safety pitch is real, and the surveillance it would build reaches well past any child. A device that has to confirm your age before it runs is a device that can log what you run. New York wants that check baked in at the level almost nobody can route around.
Timeline
Amended and recommitted to Consumer Protection as S8102B
LatestAmended and recommitted to Consumer Protection as S8102A
Referred to the Consumer Protection Committee
Sponsor
Sen. Andrew Gounardes