Washington state bills requiring privacy and AI transparency are apparently dead after missing a Friday cutoff to clear fiscal committees in the legislature. However, child privacy bills in the House and Senate cleared their respective fiscal committees in time.
Senate Republicans expect a straightforward path to confirming FTC nominee Mark Meador, which would allow the commission’s Republican majority to act on two privacy rulemakings.
Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley (D) criticized a comprehensive privacy bill introduced Thursday in the state Senate. Sen. Thomas Chittenden (D) introduced S-93 on the same day that the Senate Institutions Committee started walking through the Senate version (S-71) of Priestley’s previously introduced H-208, which also seeks a broad data privacy law (see 2502130013).
Buddy AI is now complying with child privacy law, BBB National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) said Wednesday (see 2502260053).
A Vermont Senate panel narrowed the scope of a kids code bill at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. The Institutions Committee then split 3-2 to clear S-69, with Republicans casting the no votes.
A video games industry lobbyist raised questions Thursday about Meta’s involvement in an Alabama child online safety bill requiring app stores to check users’ ages. However, at a livestreamed hearing, the Alabama Senate Children Committee supported SB-187, an app store age-verification bill spotted in several other states including Utah. The panel also cleared SB-186, requiring that phone and tablet manufacturers activate internet filters by default to protect kids.
Buddy AI violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by failing to get parental consent for collecting children’s data and not providing proper notice of its practices, BBB National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) said Wednesday.
An Iowa social media bill requiring age verification cleared the state’s House Judiciary Committee by a 19-2 vote on Tuesday. The committee approved HF-278, which says that platforms must not permit those younger than 18 to obtain accounts without parental consent. Child online safety bills advanced in multiple other states this week, too (see 2502250017).
A Vermont Senate panel weighed changes to an age-appropriate design code bill (S-69) at a meeting Wednesday. The Institutions Committee was scheduled to meet again about the bill Thursday.
The Connecticut Senate will vote on an AI bill by Sen. James Maroney (D) this year, as it did last year, declared President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D) at a press conference ahead of a Wednesday hearing on SB-2. While Looney said passage of the bill is urgent, Connecticut's chief innovation officer told a hearing the state risks regulating too soon and getting it wrong.