California
California’s recently passed Age-Appropriate Design Code has served as a model and inspiration for other states looking to enact their own legislation strengthening young users’ privacy protections without resorting to full-on parental consent demands. The law, which is scheduled to take effect in July 2024, would require tech companies to apply the highest level of privacy settings by default for users identified as under the age of 18. The law prohibits companies from using sneaky “dark patterns” techniques to keep young users on its site and limits the amount of data that can be collected from them.
Supporters of the law hope it could lead to a “California Effect” where social media firms opt to apply its high standard by default in other states too rather than annoyingly forge a complicated patchwork or state-by-state rules. Tech groups representing major firms like Meta and Google, however, have come out swinging and say they plan to battle the legislation on First Amendment grounds.
