Vt. Senators Aim to Narrow Kids Code Bill's Scope

S-69 is the Senate version of a kids code bill that Rep. Monique Priestley (D) introduced in the House (see 2502130013). The bill aims to curb children’s addiction to social media and require that highest level of privacy is set for kids by default. The Senate Institutions Committee heard support from consumer advocates and opposition from business groups at hearings last week (see 2502210066 and 2502180029).

An amendment proposed Wednesday would add an exemption for entities that control or process personal data of at most 25,000 consumers in the previous calendar year, or at most 50,000 if the company's annual gross revenue is less than $1 million. The proposed thresholds would exclude data used only for completing payment transactions. A previous version of the bill had set the threshold at 100,000 consumers. Also, the amendment adds an exemption for financial institutions or data subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

The committee wrestled over language in the amendment to insert a carveout for video games into the bill. The panel ended up agreeing to keep the amendment's phrasing, which says, "The content of the media viewed by a covered minor or the video games played by a covered minor shall not establish emotional distress or compulsive use as those terms are used" in the bill.

The committee agreed to a suggested further amendment by Sen. Samuel Douglass (R) would narrow the bill's scope to companies that generate most of their annual revenue from online services.

Democrats control the House and Senate in Vermont, but Gov. Phil Scott is a Republican. Scott raised concerns with kids code rules last year when he vetoed a bill that included them alongside proposed comprehensive privacy and data broker regulations (see 2406140017).