Maine AG: Age Verification, Parental Consent Raise Privacy Issues

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) raised privacy concerns Monday concerning a social media bill requiring age verification. Maine’s joint Judiciary Committee received testimony on LD-844, which would require age verification and ban accounts for kids younger than 14, while allowing them for 14- and 15-year-olds with parental consent (see 2503060022).

LD-844's "age verification and parental consent requirements, as drafted, may not adequately mitigate risks relating to user privacy and data security,” wrote Frey. Also, the bill doesn’t “address the use of minors’ personal data by social media platforms, which should be an important component of any legislative effort to regulate social media use by minors.”

Tech industry groups also opposed LD-844 for privacy reasons. "Stringent age verification to access online platforms requires the collection, processing, and storage of users’ sensitive personally identifiable information, and should be avoided,” wrote TechNet. “Age verification conflicts with data privacy best practices like data minimization included in the various comprehensive data privacy bills under consideration by this Committee.”

LD-844 "would threaten the privacy of all users and disproportionately impact marginalized youth,” commented Chamber of Progress. "Compelling companies to gather personal information from so many users threatens cybersecurity. Specifically, services that cater to LGBTQ+ communities would be at particular risk for targeting since their data could be used for cyberbullying or blackmail.”

NetChoice suggested using the bill "to jumpstart a larger conversation about how best to protect minors online and consider alternatives that do not raise constitutional issues."

However, some parents urged Maine to regulate social media via LD-844. “We regulate substances like tobacco and alcohol for minors because we understand the long-term risks,” said Crystal Schreck, co-founder of the Falmouth Alliance for Thoughtful Technology. “Why should social media, which is proving to have comparable impacts on adolescent mental health, be treated any differently?"

The Entertainment Software Association is suggesting an amendment to exempt video games from the proposed law, said Curtis Picard, a Maine lobbyist, at the committee’s livestreamed hearing Monday. ESA is concerned that the bill’s definition of social media may cover its industry, which is a “very different animal,” he said.