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

-- Legislators from all around the world create bills in an attempt to pass them and thus make it law.In order for a bill to be passed, It must go through "The Legislative Process" --

The 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

• 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) and since It may also force said citizen to use less secure services, therefore allowing 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	Elements of privacy taken away	Status
Texas Senate Bill 2420 (2025)		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
Colorado Senate Bill SB26-051		The Colorado Senate Bill "SB26-051" 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 (perhaps soon to be law) will face a fine of 2,500$ per unintentional violation or 7,500$ per intentional violation.	Device-Based Age Indication	Under Consideration
California Assembly Bill No. 1043		The California Assembly Bill No. "1043" states that any	Age Indication	Approved (Active Jan 1, 2027)
S.737 - Screen Act		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
S.1207 - Earn It Act		[TBA]	Anti-Encryption	Introduced
Utah Bill H.B. 464		[TBA]	Age-Gating/Verification	Passed House committee
S.1748 - Kids Online Safety Act		[TBA]	Censorship/Age-Gating	Introduced
S.146 - TAKE IT DOWN Act		[TBA]	Anti-Encryption/Censorship	Approved
Utah S.B. 73		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed House committee
Ohio HB 84		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Wisconsin SB 130		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed Senate
Missouri HB 3015/1839		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Iowa HF 2606		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Missouri HB 1839 & 901/1346/1412		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Wyoming HB 72		[TBA]	Age Verification	Rejected
West Virginia HB 4412		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed the House
Rhode Island HB 7746		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Illinois SB 3946		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Maryland HB 908		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Tennessee HB 2522/SB 2398		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Maryland HB 693		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa SF 2159		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
West Virginia SB 628		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa HF 864		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first chamber
West Virginia SB 498		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New Jersey S 1826		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Missouri HB 1878		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New Hampshire SB 648		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
New York S3591 / A3946		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Washington HB 2112		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Parents Over Platforms Act - HR 6333		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Hawaii HB 1198		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Hawaii HB 1212		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Iowa SF 207/443		[TBA]	Age Verification	Passed first committee
Massachusetts H 1626		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Pennsylvania HB 1513		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Michigan SB284/HB 4429		[TBA]	Device-Based Age Verification	Introduced
Pennsylvania SB 603		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Tennessee HB 222 / SB 466		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Michigan SB 191		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Minnesota HF 1875		[TBA]	Age Verification	Introduced
Mineesota SF 2105/HF 1434		[TBA]	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
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.
3. Sign Petitions; Signing petitions is another way to the message across to both legislators & other people alike.
4. Support Pro Consumer/Privacy Bills; Supporting bills that protect consumer privacy & ownership helps circumvent future bills that aims for the opposite affect.

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.

External Links

• https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/age-verification-bills/
• https://action.freespeechcoalition.com/
• https://www.badinternetbills.com/

Further Reading

• Category:Legislation