NC Kids Privacy Bill Would Cover Biggest Social Platforms
A North Carolina bill aimed at protecting children on social media cleared a House committee Tuesday. The Commerce Committee voted by voice to advance an amended HB-860 to the Appropriations Committee.
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A similar bill last year passed the House unanimously but never got out of the Senate. The committee’s substitute for HB-860 would only target social platforms with more than one million active users.
"Big Tech is profiteering off of our children,” said sponsor Rep. Jeffrey McNeeley (R) at the committee meeting. “We can't go after all [platforms], but we're going to go after the main ones.” Those are the companies with the most sophisticated algorithms, he said. "This is going after the ones that have perfected the art.”
According to HB-860: “Exploitation of user data can result in users being targeted in ways that increase unhealthy social media use. It is the policy of this State that user data privacy shall be respected by platforms. Special protections are warranted for users who are minors.”
Under the bill, covered social platforms would have to clearly inform users, in fewer than 500 words, “about how the platform collects personal information, what personal information the platform collects, how the personal information is used by the platform for every use case, and how the user can exercise their rights and choices on the platform.” Also, covered platforms must set minors’ privacy settings to the highest level by default.
In addition, the bill requires that platforms disclose “(i) the categories of information the platform has collected about the user, (ii) the categories of sources from which the information is collected, (iii) the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information, (iv) the categories of third parties to whom the business discloses personal information, and (v) the specific pieces of personal information it has collected about that user.” Consumers must be able to request that information “through an accessible mechanism on the platform.”
“Personal information may be used in algorithmic recommendations only when” the “platform reasonably determines the user is not a minor,” is notified and opts in. Among other HB-860 requirements: a “covered platform must establish comprehensive and effective controls to ensure that a minor's personal information is not used in any algorithmic recommendation system,” with some exceptions.
The bill would be enforced by the state attorney general and through a private right of action. Also, HB-860 would establish a state data privacy task force.