Anti-privacy legislation

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Anti-privacy legislation simply put is legislation that may be created with malicious intent or not that invoke ones right to privacy. In the last decade, governments across the world have introduced various pieces of such legislation, which has caused damage to the privacy consumers have with their technology.

How it works

The US legislative process is as follows:

1. A representative needs to sponsor a bill
2. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study
3. If the bill is released by said committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on.
4. If the majority of people vote for the bill(51 or more out of 100), then the bill is passed
5. A conference committee made of House & Senate members then works out any differences between the House & Senate version of the bill
6. Finally, the resulting bill heads back to the House & Senate for final approval by the President, If the bill is signed, then it has officially become law.

Now that such anti-privacy legislation has been approved, it can be enforced by federal agencies via penalties.

Why it is a problem

Anti-privacy legislation is a direct infringement of the 1st & 4th amendments found in the bill of rights(U.S)

• The 1st amendment states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

If Anti-privacy legislation were to be implemented, that gives anyone with access to data on someone the ability to restrict freedom of speech or oppose those with unwanted views of the world, thus infringing the 1st amendment.^{[citation needed (28 Feb 2026)]}

• The 4th amendment reads as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Anti-privacy legislation infringes on a citizen's right to avoid "unreasonable searches and seizures" since It may require/force citizens to show proof of age(selfies, id's, credit cards) without real probable cause and since It may also force said citizen to use less secure services that allow federal agencies to gain higher access to said services and retrieve to whatever data is "needed".^{[citation needed (28 Feb 2026)]}

• Anti-privacy legislation can also build the framework and foundation for other & more extreme anti-privacy measures, & such anti-privacy measures can lead to the slow development of a surveillance state.

List of Legislation

Bill/Law name	Country/State	Basic summary of Legislation	Method of Eroding Privacy	Status
UK Online Safety Act	United Kingdom	The UK Online Safety Act is a set of law's that pushes for Age verification in order to protect quote; "children and adults online". Said enforcement includes disapproving "Illegal Content", & forcing website and domain owners to utilize "highly effective age assurance" to prevent children from accessing potentially harmful content. This act also requires such platforms to " provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise."	Age Verification	Approved (Signed on Oct 26, 2023, Active since Jul 25 2025)
Florida HB 253	Florida, U.S	Florida's 253 House Bill disallows ones ability to, in their own words, utilize "license plate obscuring devices" to prevent criminals from "escaping from or avoiding detection or arrest in connection with such crime", which could be interpreted as being punished for avoiding ALPR detection.	ALPR Jamming Circumvention	Approved (Signed on May 19th 2025, Active since Oct 1 2025)
Texas Senate Bill 2420 (2025)	Texas, U.S	Texas Senate Bill 2420(also known as the "App Store Accountability Act") requires app store owners & maintainers to utilize "Commercially reasonable method('s)" In order to verify the ages their users. If someone is In a category that isn't explicitly labeled "adult", then the user is considered a minor and must ask a parent or legal guardian for permission in order to install new applications that may be considered inappropriate for their age group.	Age Verification	Rejected
California Assembly Bill No. 1043	California, U.S	The California Assembly Bill No. "1043" requires operating system owners, publishers/providers, & developers & maintainers to implement system level age verification via an "accessible interface at account setup", which then is used as an "age signal" for "applications available in a covered application store". Any person that violates this proposed bill(now law) will face a fine of 2,500$ per unintentional violation or 7,500$ per intentional violation.	Age Indication	Approved (Active Jan 1, 2027)
Colorado Senate Bill SB26-051	Colorado, U.S	The Colorado Senate Bill "SB26-051" is a "copycat bill" of California's own "Assembly Bill No. 1043" which requires operating systems of any kind(open source or not), to utilize an interface on account setup to gain an age signal for developers to use in the main app store. Overview of said bill reads as follows; "The bill requires application developers to receive user age information and use it to comply with any applicable law."	Device-Based Age Indication	Under Consideration
S.737 - Screen Act	U.S	Senate bill S. 737(also known as the Screen Act) is a bill that pushes for Age verification. The Technology Verification measures listed in section 4 state that a covered platform should adopt and utilize age verification measures, and that such measures must ensure that 1; users of the covered platform are not minors and 2; minors are prevented from accessing any content on the covered platform that is harmful to minors.	Age Verification	Introduced
S.1207 - Earn It Act	U.S	The Earn It Act quote "revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online sexual exploitation of children" by limiting the "liability protections of interactive computer service providers(Encryption)", essentially making the Earn it Act an "anti-encryption", which is (for the most part) necessary to protect ones own important documents & maintain a level of privacy in the digital age.	Anti-Encryption	Introduced
S.1748 - Kids Online Safety Act	U.S	The Kids Online Safety Act is one that quote "requires covered online platforms, including social media platforms, to implement tools and safeguards to protect users and visitors under the age of 17. Covered platforms are online platforms, video games, messaging applications, or video streaming services used or likely to be used by individuals under the age of 17, with specified exceptions."	Censorship/Age-Gating	Introduced
S.146 - TAKE IT DOWN Act	U.S	The Take It Down Act(stands for Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act) is a law that prohibits the publication of "non-consensual" intimate visual depictions of individuals, both real or computer-generated, and requires certain online platforms to promptly remove such depictions upon receiving notice of their existence.", and such covered platforms are; public websites, online services, or applications that allows for user generated content on forums. Such a law could be & shouldn't be used as an excuse for censorship or otherwise prevention of free speech.	Anti-Encryption/Censorship	Approved
Real-life identity disclosure required to activate SIM cards.	Many countries.	People are required to associate their real-life identity with their SIM cards, making "burner phones" impossible, and making it impossible to access the cellular Internet without being tracked by the government. Additionally, this can be used to exclude political dissidents from accessing the Internet.	Identity disclosure	Approved in many countries over time.
Utah S.B. 73	Utah, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed House committee
Ohio HB 84	Ohio, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Wisconsin SB 130	Wisconsin, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed Senate
Missouri HB 3015/1839	Missouri, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Iowa HF 2606	Iowa, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Missouri HB 1839 & 901/1346/1412	Missouri, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Wyoming HB 72	Wyoming, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
West Virginia HB 4412	West Virginia, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed the House
Rhode Island HB 7746	Rhode Island, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Illinois SB 3946	Illinois, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Maryland HB 908	Maryland, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Tennessee HB 2522/SB 2398	Tennessee, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Maryland HB 693	Mayland, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa SF 2159	Iowa, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
West Virginia SB 628	West Virginia, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa HF 864	Iowa, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first chamber
West Virginia SB 498	West virginia, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New Jersey S 1826	New Jersey, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Missouri HB 1878	Missouri, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New Hampshire SB 648	New Hampshire, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New York S3591 / A3946	New York, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Washington HB 2112	Washington, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Parents Over Platforms Act - HR 6333	U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Hawaii HB 1198	Hawaii, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Hawaii HB 1212	Hawaii, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa SF 207/443	Iowa	[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Massachusetts H 1626	Massachusetts, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Pennsylvania HB 1513	Pennsylvania, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Michigan SB284/HB 4429	Michigan, U.S	[TBA]	Device-Based Age Verification	Introduced
Pennsylvania SB 603	Pennsylvania, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Tennessee HB 222 / SB 466	Tennessee, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Michigan SB 191	Michigan, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Minnesota HF 1875	Minnesota	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Minnesota SF 2105/HF 1434	Minnesota, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Alabama HB 164	Alabama, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved (Active since Oct 1 2024)
Alabama HB 393	Alabama, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Alabama HB 441	Alabama, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Alaska HB 254	Alaska, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona HB 2112	Arizona, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved (Signed on May 13th 2025)
Arizona HB 2586	Arizona, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona HB 2656	Arizona, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona SB 1125	Arizona, U.S	[TBA] (Identical to SB 1298, Arizona)	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona SB 1298	Arizona, U.S	[TBA] (Identical to SB 1125, Arizona)	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona SB 1341	Arizona, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Arizona SB 1503	Arizona, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Arkansas SB 66	Arkansas, U.S	[TBA] (Copycat of Louisiana's AVS law)	Age Verification	Approved (Active since July 31 2023)
California AB 127	California, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved
California AB 1501	California, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
California AB 2273 (2022)	California, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification/Censorship	Approved
California AB 3080	California, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
CASE–IT Act (2023)	U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification/Censorship	Rejected
Colorado SB 25-201	Colorado, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Delaware HB 265	Delaware, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Florida HB 3	Florida, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved (Active since Jan 1 2025)
Florida HB 931/SB 1438	Florida, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Florida SB 1620	Florida, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification/Censorship	Rejected
Florida SB 472	Florida, U.S	[TBA] (Copycat of Louisiana's AVS law)	Age Verification	Rejected
Louisiana HB Bill/Act No. 440	Louisiana, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approve (Active since
Georgia HB 910	Georgia, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Failed (Incorporated in SB 351)
Georgia SB 351	Georgia, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved (Active since Jul 1 2025)
Hawaii HB 1198	Hawaii, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Hawaii HB 1212	Hawaii, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Idaho H 448	Idaho, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
Idaho H 498	Idaho, U.S	[TBA]	Age Verification	Approved (Active since Jul 1 2024)
Congress H.R.8250	U.S	[TBA]	Device-Based Age Verification	Introduced
Safe Digital Environments Law (Ley de Entornos Digitales Seguros)	Chile	Adds restrictions to social media for users under 16	Age Verification	Introduced

What you can do

In order to oppose/dispute Anti-privacy legislation created by legislators, you can:

1. Spread the word; not everyone knows about these bills or the mere existence of these types of bills and therefore wont even fight back^{[citation needed (1 Mar 2026)]}
2. Contact local legislators & representatives; If enough people oppose a proposed bill, local legislators may delay the bill or back off on their decision entirely. If enough citizens instead urge a representative to vote against a bill, said representatives could potentially follow up on the citizen's behalf.^{[citation needed (1 Mar 2026)]}
3. Sign Petitions; Signing petitions is another way to the message across to both legislators & other people alike.^{[citation needed (1 Mar 2026)]}
4. Support Pro Consumer/Privacy Bills; Supporting bills/would-be laws that protect consumer privacy & ownership helps circumvent future bills that aims for the opposite affect.^{[citation needed (1 Mar 2026)]}

Tools & Resources

• Age Verification Bills is a sub-site of the the domain Action Free Speech Coalition that specifically lists all bills pushing for any form of "Age verification".
• Bad Internet Bills is a website listing quote "bad internet bills" in a easily accessible manner.
• US State Privacy Legislation Tracker is a sub site of the domain Iapp that tracks many but not all pro-privacy or consumer U.S bills that have passed or not. This includes bills that support consumer rights & bills that businesses are obligated to comply with. (Click here to view the chart & here to view the map in the U.S)

External Links

• https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/
• https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/
• https://www.badinternetbills.com/
• https://iapp.org/resources/article/us-state-privacy-legislation-tracker
• https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltd4dd5b2d705252bc/blt76d030a1054f612a/us_state_privacy_legislation_tracker.pdf
• https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltd4dd5b2d705252bc/blt8134a824fbb924de/us_state_privacy_legislation_tracker_map.jpg

Further Reading

• Category:Common license terms
• Category:Legislation