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| | 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB2037 Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Celina Villanueva SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
| | | Creates the Digital Age Assurance Act. Provides that specified manufacturers shall take commercially reasonable and technically feasible steps to, upon activation of a device, determine or estimate the age of the device's primary user and provide websites, applications, application stores, and online services with a digital signal regarding the user's age. Sets forth requirements for any website, application, or online service that makes available mature content. Provides that a website, application, or online service with actual knowledge that a user is under 18 years of age shall, to the extent commercially reasonable and technically feasible, provide readily available features for parents or guardians to support a minor with respect to the minor's use of the website, application, or online service. Provides that specified manufacturers shall comply with the Act in a nondiscriminatory manner. Provides that the Attorney General may commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of the Act. Sets forth provisions concerning civil actions. Limits home rule. Effective January 1, 2026. | |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning business.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the |
| 5 | | Digital Age Assurance Act.
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| 6 | | Section 5. Findings and purposes. |
| 7 | | (1) Creating a barrier between minors and mature |
| 8 | | content and mature online experiences requires a solution |
| 9 | | that protects minors while also protecting privacy and |
| 10 | | safeguarding personal information. |
| 11 | | (2) Current efforts to make online environments safer |
| 12 | | for children are ineffective. |
| 13 | | (3) 95% of teens in the United States have access to |
| 14 | | smartphones. |
| 15 | | (4) Teens in the United States with access to digital |
| 16 | | devices use an average of 40 different applications on |
| 17 | | those devices. |
| 18 | | (5) 97% of teens in the United States are daily |
| 19 | | Internet users, and 46% of teens in the United States |
| 20 | | respond that they are online almost constantly. |
| 21 | | (6) Individual application-based or website-based age |
| 22 | | assurance will not protect minors across this broad online |
| 23 | | ecosystem. |
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| 1 | | (7) The most effective and privacy-protective way of |
| 2 | | achieving age assurance is at the point of access, on |
| 3 | | devices themselves. |
| 4 | | (8) Parents and guardians want more control over their |
| 5 | | minor children's device use and online experiences. The |
| 6 | | best way to empower parents and guardians is to create an |
| 7 | | industry-wide solution through which all online services |
| 8 | | are held to the same consistent standard.
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| 9 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: |
| 10 | | "Application store" means a publicly available website, |
| 11 | | software application, or online service that distributes |
| 12 | | third-party platforms' software applications to a computer, a |
| 13 | | mobile device, or any other general-purpose computing device. |
| 14 | | "Covered manufacturer" means a manufacturer of a device, |
| 15 | | an operating system for a device, or an application store. |
| 16 | | "Device" means a device or a portion of a device that is |
| 17 | | designed for and capable of communicating across a computer |
| 18 | | network with other computers or devices for the purpose of |
| 19 | | transmitting, receiving, or storing data, including, but not |
| 20 | | limited to, a desktop, laptop, cellular telephone, tablet, or |
| 21 | | other device designed for and capable of communicating with or |
| 22 | | across a computer network and that is used for that purpose. |
| 23 | | "Mature content" has the same meaning given to the term |
| 24 | | "sexually explicit conduct" as defined in 18 U.S.C. |
| 25 | | 2256(2)(A). |
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| 1 | | "Minor" means an individual under the age of 18. |
| 2 | | "Operating system provider" means an entity that develops, |
| 3 | | distributes, or maintains, a device's operating system, and |
| 4 | | provides common services. "Operating system provider" |
| 5 | | includes, but is not limited to, the design, programming, and |
| 6 | | supply of operating systems for various devices, such as |
| 7 | | smartphones, tablets, and other digital equipment. |
| 8 | | "Substantial portion" means more than one-third of the |
| 9 | | total material on a website, application, or online service.
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| 10 | | Section 15. Age assurance required. |
| 11 | | (a) A covered manufacturer shall take commercially |
| 12 | | reasonable and technically feasible steps to: |
| 13 | | (1) upon the device's activation determine or estimate |
| 14 | | the age of the device's primary user; |
| 15 | | (2) provide websites, applications, application |
| 16 | | stores, and online services with a digital signal |
| 17 | | regarding whether an individual is under the age of 13, at |
| 18 | | least 13 years of age and under 16 years of age, at least |
| 19 | | 16 years of age and under 18 years of age, or at least 18 |
| 20 | | years of age through a real-time application programming |
| 21 | | interface; and |
| 22 | | (3) in the case of a covered manufacturer that is an |
| 23 | | application store, obtain parental or guardian consent |
| 24 | | before permitting an individual under 16 years of age to |
| 25 | | download an application from the application store and |
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| 1 | | provide the parent or guardian with the option to connect |
| 2 | | the developer of the application with the approving parent |
| 3 | | or guardian for the purpose of facilitating parental |
| 4 | | supervision tools. |
| 5 | | (b) For devices sold before the effective date of this |
| 6 | | Act, covered manufacturers shall ensure that the requirements |
| 7 | | under subsection (a) are included in its operating system and |
| 8 | | application store versions and updates by default after the |
| 9 | | effective date of this Act. |
| 10 | | (c) Any website, application, or online service that makes |
| 11 | | available mature content shall: |
| 12 | | (1) recognize and allow for the receipt of digital age |
| 13 | | signals as described in this Act; |
| 14 | | (2) if a substantial portion of the total material on |
| 15 | | the website, application, or online service is mature |
| 16 | | content, it shall: |
| 17 | | (A) block access to the website, application, or |
| 18 | | online service when a digital age signal is received |
| 19 | | indicating a user is under 18 years of age; |
| 20 | | (B) provide a disclaimer to users or visitors that |
| 21 | | the website, application, or online service contains |
| 22 | | mature content; and |
| 23 | | (C) label itself as restricted to adults; and |
| 24 | | (3) if less than a substantial portion of the total |
| 25 | | material on the website, application, or online is mature |
| 26 | | content: |
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| 1 | | (A) block access to known mature content when a |
| 2 | | digital age signal is received indicating a user is |
| 3 | | under 18 years of age; and |
| 4 | | (B) provide a disclaimer to users or visitors |
| 5 | | before displaying known mature content. |
| 6 | | (d) A website, application, or online service that, |
| 7 | | through receipt of a digital age signal or otherwise attains |
| 8 | | actual knowledge that a user is under 18 years of age shall, to |
| 9 | | the extent commercially reasonable and technically feasible, |
| 10 | | provide readily available features for parents or guardians to |
| 11 | | support a minor with respect to the minor's use of the website, |
| 12 | | application, or online service, including features to help |
| 13 | | manage which individuals or accounts are affirmatively linked |
| 14 | | to the minor, to help manage the delivery of age-appropriate |
| 15 | | content, and to limit the amount of time that the minor spends |
| 16 | | daily on the website, application, or online service. |
| 17 | | (e) A covered manufacturer shall comply with this Act in a |
| 18 | | nondiscriminatory manner by, among other things: |
| 19 | | (1) imposing at least the same restrictions and |
| 20 | | obligations on its own websites, applications, and online |
| 21 | | services as it does on those from third parties; and |
| 22 | | (2) not using data collected from third parties, or |
| 23 | | consent mechanisms deployed for third parties, in the |
| 24 | | course of compliance with this Act, to compete against |
| 25 | | those third parties, to give the covered manufacturer's |
| 26 | | services preference relative to those of third parties, or |
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| 1 | | to otherwise use the data or consent mechanism in an |
| 2 | | anti-competitive manner. |
| 3 | | (f) The Attorney General may adopt rules as may be |
| 4 | | necessary to establish the processes by which entities are to |
| 5 | | comply with the provisions of this Section.
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| 6 | | Section 20. Enforcement. |
| 7 | | (a) The Attorney General may commence a civil action to |
| 8 | | enforce the provisions of this Act. |
| 9 | | (b) Before initiating an action under this Act, the |
| 10 | | Attorney General shall provide an entity with written notice |
| 11 | | identifying the specific provisions of this Act the Attorney |
| 12 | | General alleges the entity has violated. If the entity cures |
| 13 | | those violations within 45 days of receipt of the written |
| 14 | | notice and provides the Attorney General with a written |
| 15 | | statement that the alleged violations have been cured, no |
| 16 | | further action shall be initiated against the entity. |
| 17 | | (c) If an entity continues to violate this Act after |
| 18 | | receiving the written notice from the Attorney General or |
| 19 | | fails to respond to the written statement as described in |
| 20 | | subsection (b), the Attorney General may initiate a civil |
| 21 | | action and seek damages for up to $10,000 per violation of this |
| 22 | | Act. The damages shall begin accruing 45 days after the |
| 23 | | receipt of the written notice from the Attorney General. |
| 24 | | (d) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as providing |
| 25 | | the basis for, or be subject to, a private right of action. |
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| 1 | | (e) A covered manufacturer shall not be subject to |
| 2 | | liability for failure to comply with this Act if that covered |
| 3 | | manufacturer has taken commercially reasonable and technically |
| 4 | | feasible steps to determine or estimate the age of the |
| 5 | | device's user as required in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) |
| 6 | | of Section 15.
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| 7 | | Section 25. Uniformity of interpretation. This Act shall |
| 8 | | be construed and interpreted to effectuate its general purpose |
| 9 | | and to make uniform the law in those states that enact similar |
| 10 | | statutes.
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| 11 | | Section 30. Conflict of law. The provisions of this Act |
| 12 | | shall be construed to take precedence over any conflict of law |
| 13 | | in accordance with the Statute on Statutes
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| 14 | | Section 35. Home rule. A home rule unit may not regulate |
| 15 | | the activities described in Section 15 in a manner more |
| 16 | | restrictive than the regulation by the State of those |
| 17 | | activities under this Act. This Section is a limitation under |
| 18 | | subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois |
| 19 | | Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of |
| 20 | | powers and functions exercised by the State
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| 21 | | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are |
| 22 | | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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