Digital Age Assurance Act of 2026

The Digital Age Assurance Act would create a federal system for verifying users' ages online at the device level. The operating system providers (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.) would have to ask users for their date of birth when they set up a device account, sort that into an age bracket (under 13, 13–15, 16, or 17+), and share that bracket as a "signal" with apps, browsers, and websites on request.

Note: The bill does not include an 18+ age bracket.

Websites that are already required under some other Federal or State law to verify a user's age (which would include most adult sites in states with existing age-verification laws) would have to request this signal and use it as their primary method of confirming a user's age, rather than doing their own independent check. The bill does not create new age-verification obligations for sites not already covered by another law.

Notably, the bill would prohibit verifying age through government-issued ID, biometric data, or facial age estimation, which puts it in direct tension with several existing state age-verification laws that require or allow those exact methods. It also bans targeted advertising to and data sales involving minors, sets data-minimization rules, and includes an antitrust-style section barring app stores and operating systems from imposing stricter age rules on competitors' apps than on their own.

Enforcement would be through the FTC and state attorneys general, with civil penalties of $2,500 (negligent) or $7,500 (knowing) per violation, multiplied by the number of children affected. The law would take effect 18 months after enactment.