Bill > S08102

This bill mandates that manufacturers of internet-enabled devices, such as smartphones and tablets, must implement "age assurance" to determine a user's age category, which is defined as being under thirteen, thirteen to under sixteen, sixteen to under eighteen, or eighteen and over. Upon a device's activation, or within 180 days for existing devices, the operating system provider must conduct this age assurance and then provide a digital signal indicating the user's age category to any "covered developer" – essentially, anyone who owns or controls a software application that runs on such a device and is accessed in New York. This signal is to be delivered in real-time via an "application programming interface" (API), which is a system allowing different software to communicate. Covered developers must then request this age signal when a user downloads and launches their application, and if the signal indicates the user is a "covered minor" (under eighteen), the developer must treat this as definitive proof of their age for legal compliance purposes, unless they have clear evidence to the contrary. The bill also includes provisions for data security, nondiscrimination by operating system providers, and limitations for family account applications, with enforcement powers granted to the Attorney General.