The technology watchdog fears a bill regulating social media could harm the privacy of minors

As Gov. Kathy Hochul and state government leaders make a last-minute push to pass two bills to regulate content shared with children on social media, an influential technology watchdog group is warning that the age verification provisions of one of the bills could actually threaten teenagers’ privacy and make it less safe.

Lawmakers are currently trying to pass the New York Children’s Privacy Act, which prohibits social media companies from collecting and sharing information about minor users without parental consent, and the SAFE For Kids Act, which requires social media companies to treat users under 18. . older people differently than adults – limiting minors’ access to websites from midnight to 6 a.m. and limiting what potentially addictive content can be shown to minors without parental consent. Both bills are sponsored by State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.

The bills were not included in the state budget, but they had the support of Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James from the beginning. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, was unsurprisingly opposed to the bills, and Gounardes attributed much of the opposition to the bill to lobbying by social media giants.

But the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a technology watchdog group that is critical of social media companies’ extensive data collection, has also raised concerns about how the SAFE for Kids Act could impact the anonymity and privacy of adolescent internet users. The group fears that the bill’s requirement for social media companies to verify users’ ages will result in users (including minors) handing over even more private information to companies like Meta than they already do.

David Siffert, legal director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told City & State that the SAFE for Kids Act breaks away from promises made to Internet users since the advent of the World Wide Web. “It basically means the end of online anonymity for anyone who wants to use social media, which is obviously problematic,” he said.

Siffert is concerned about possible age verification methods that may appear or be expanded as a result of the bills. Age verification is not a new concept; In the simplest case, websites simply ask users to enter their date of birth. Hochul, however, promised that under the SAFE for Kids Act, social media companies would be required to use age verification measures that are not easily fooled.

“There will be more control than just giving birthdays,” the governor said at a news conference this week.

The SAFE for Kids Act would require social media companies to use “commercially reasonable” methods to verify the age of users. Both social media companies and specialized identity verification companies already use various methods to check the age of users. Meta currently infers age based on user activity. Businesses also have age verification options available based on phone numbers, credit and debit card checks, verified email accounts, on-site age verification, voice recognition and biometrics.

But Siffert said he doesn’t feel comfortable with social media companies even having that information. “I mean, this is very sensitive information,” he said. “It’s your identity, which means you can’t browse the internet without your identity and agreeing to it.”

He said he is also concerned that children need parental consent to use social media, which he believes could harm LGBTQ youth by allowing parents to consent to their use of certain platforms such as Trevor Space, an online community for queer youth.

Supporters of the bill argue that since companies like Meta already use some form of age verification, the bill would not require them to implement any additional measures or collect any additional information.

Supporters also say the SAFE for Kids Act does not require age restrictions or denial of service unless a user’s age is verified. Instead, the bill requires users’ ages to be verified through “commercially reasonable” means to allow minors and their parents to decide what types of algorithmic channels they interact with.

Gounardes said tech companies are trying to muddy the field by suggesting they no longer use age verification tools when collecting data on their users, when in fact they are using the practice to generate billions.

“So make no mistake, keeping children online by providing them with addictive content they didn’t sign up for has nothing to do with free speech or an open internet: it’s a money grab, and our children are paying the price,” he said in a statement .