Bipartisan Senators Introduce Digital Age Assurance Act

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan proposal now before the U.S. Senate could move the United States closer to a nationwide digital age-assurance standard designed to prevent minors under 18 from accessing age-restricted online content.

The legislation is being led by Democratic Sens. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California, alongside Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso of Wyoming. Known as the Digital Age Assurance Act, the measure would create a federal and state compliance framework requiring age verification to take place at the operating-system level of internet-connected devices rather than through individual websites.

The proposal closely mirrors legislation approved by California lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2025. That law is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, and directs companies that develop and operate mobile device operating systems to implement a system allowing users to verify their ages efficiently.

Under that approach, users would complete age verification before downloading or purchasing apps and digital content through platforms such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

Supporters say the California framework offers a model for the federal Digital Age Assurance Act, which they believe could balance online safety with protections for free expression.

“We owe it to parents and kids to put guardrails in place before more harm is done. The Digital Age Assurance Act puts kids’ data privacy first as we make sure Congress and tech companies do their part to make online spaces safer for our kids,” Kim said.

Lummis also voiced support for the legislation, saying, “In Wyoming, we believe protecting our kids and protecting our freedoms go hand in hand, and this bill proves you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.” Her comments come as many existing age-verification laws around the country rely on methods such as government-issued identification or AI-powered facial analysis.

“That’s why I’m proud to work with Senators Kim, Lummis, and Barrasso on a comprehensive federal age-assurance framework that follows California’s important work in this space and ensures that the digital content kids see is age-appropriate and that their privacy is protected from invasive data collection,” Schiff added.

Age-verification legislation has expanded rapidly at both the state and federal levels, advancing much faster than many observers in the adult entertainment and technology sectors had anticipated. More than half of U.S. states have now enacted some form of age-verification law or regulation, with many of the earliest measures adopted in Republican-led states, including Wyoming.

Although the first wave of laws aimed at adult entertainment websites largely emerged from conservative Republican lawmakers, age-verification proposals have since gained bipartisan support, reflecting broader efforts to establish verified, non-anonymous online environments.

In response, companies and organizations within the adult entertainment industry have sought approaches that reduce the amount of personal data collected by age-verification providers and other technology companies.

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), the trade organization representing the adult entertainment industry, has supported legislation built around a device-level verification model similar to the Senate proposal. Executive Director Alison Boden said she and members of her team met with Kim and his staff while the Digital Age Assurance Act was being drafted. She noted that it remains unclear whether the legislation will ultimately advance through Congress.

“We’re thrilled to see a bipartisan bill that takes an effective, device-based approach to proving age online,” Boden said. She added, however, that the current language may create concerns because it does not yet provide adults 18 and older with the same type of “privacy-preserving solution” envisioned for protecting minors.

If approved by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, the Digital Age Assurance Act would establish a nationwide device-based age-assurance system that generates “age brackets.” Apps and websites would receive those signals instead of collecting users’ exact ages.

The legislation would also limit how age-related information is collected, shared and used. It would prohibit the sale of children’s personal data to data brokers, ban its use for profiling or targeted advertising, and establish a national baseline for online child privacy protections while maintaining access to online services. Boden said the FSC is continuing discussions with lawmakers to ensure the age-bracket system also addresses privacy considerations for adults.

The bill would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to enforce its provisions alongside state attorneys general. Proposed penalties include civil fines of up to $2,500 for each negligent violation and up to $7,500 for each knowing or intentional violation, with those amounts potentially multiplied based on the number of affected children.

The proposal has also drawn interest because it aligns with the position of one of the industry’s most prominent supporters of device-based age verification.

“While we will not comment on hypotheticals, we are glad to see lawmakers recognize that kid-safe phones can provide a more consistent and privacy-protective way to help keep minors away from age-restricted content,” an Aylo spokesperson said. As site-level age-verification laws have taken effect in several jurisdictions, Aylo and its parent company, Ethical Capital Partners, have discontinued service in some states and countries rather than comply with certain requirements.

“Since April 2026, when Apple’s age verification solution was implemented in the U.K., Pornhub has experimented with Apple’s solution and has seen it successfully prevent minors from accessing adult content,” the spokesperson said, referring to Apple’s age-signal system introduced in the United Kingdom.

“It is our view that children in the U.K. using Apple devices with the most up-to-date version of iOS are benefiting from the strongest level of protection from age-inappropriate content online,” the spokesperson said. “Adult sites are blocked by default, and VPNs do not work to circumvent these blocks.

“We are determined to be part of this solution and want to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective kid-safe-by-default solution,” the spokesperson added. The company maintains that many existing site-level age-verification systems remain vulnerable to VPN use and continue to raise privacy concerns.