Vermont H 210: An act relating to an age-appropriate design code

Bill Text

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H.210 1
Introduced by Representatives Priestley of Bradford, Marcotte of Coventry, 2
Arsenault of Williston, Austin of Colchester, Berbeco of 3
Winooski, Bos-Lun of Westminster, Bosch of Clarendon, 4
Boutin of Barre City, Boyden of Cambridge, Brown of 5
Richmond, Burke of Brattleboro, Burrows of West Windsor, 6
Campbell of St. Johnsbury, Carris-Duncan of Whitingham, 7
Casey of Montpelier, Chapin of East Montpelier, Cina of 8
Burlington, Cole of Hartford, Cordes of Bristol, Donahue of 9
Northfield, Duke of Burlington, Eastes of Guilford, Goldman of 10
Rockingham, Graning of Jericho, Greer of Bennington, Harple 11
of Glover, Headrick of Burlington, Holcombe of Norwich, 12
Krasnow of South Burlington, Lalley of Shelburne, Lipsky of 13
Stowe, Masland of Thetford, McCann of Montpelier, McGill of 14
Bridport, Micklus of Milton, Mihaly of Calais, Minier of South 15
Burlington, Mrowicki of Putney, Nugent of South Burlington, 16
O’Brien of Tunbridge, Ode of Burlington, Olson of Starksboro, 17
Pezzo of Colchester, Pouech of Hinesburg, Rachelson of 18
Burlington, Satcowitz of Randolph, Sibilia of Dover, Stevens of 19
Waterbury, Surprenant of Barnard, Tomlinson of Winooski, 20

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Torre of Moretown, Waszazak of Barre City, and White of 1
Bethel 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Commerce and trade; protection of personal information; privacy of 5
minors 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require that 7
any covered business that develops and provides online services, products, or 8
features that children are reasonably likely to access must not use abusive or 9
privacy-invasive design features on children. 10
An act relating to an age-appropriate design code 11
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 12
Sec. 1. 9 V.S.A. chapter 62, subchapter 6 is added to read: 13
Subchapter 6. Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code Act 14
§ 2449a. DEFINITIONS 15
As used in this subchapter: 16
(1)(A) “Affiliate” means a legal entity that shares common branding 17
with another legal entity or controls, is controlled by, or is under common 18
control with another legal entity. 19

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(B) As used in subdivision (A) of this subdivision (1), “control” or 1
“controlled” means: 2
(i) ownership of, or the power to vote, more than 50 percent of the 3
outstanding shares of any class of voting security of a company; 4
(ii) control in any manner over the election of a majority of the 5
directors or of individuals exercising similar functions; or 6
(iii) the power to exercise controlling influence over the 7
management of a company. 8
(2) “Age assurance” encompasses a range of methods used to determine, 9
estimate, or communicate the age or an age range of an online user. 10
(3) “Algorithmic recommendation system” means a system that uses an 11
algorithm to select, filter, and arrange media on a covered business’s website 12
for the purpose of selecting, recommending, or prioritizing media for a user. 13
(4)(A) “Biometric data” means data generated from the technological 14
processing of an individual’s unique biological, physical, or physiological 15
characteristics that allow or confirm the unique identification of the consumer, 16
including: 17
(i) iris or retina scans; 18
(ii) fingerprints; 19
(iii) facial or hand mapping, geometry, or templates; 20
(iv) vein patterns; 21

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(v) voice prints or vocal biomarkers; and 1
(vi) gait or personally identifying physical movement or patterns. 2
(B) “Biometric data” does not include: 3
(i) a digital or physical photograph; 4
(ii) an audio or video recording; or 5
(iii) any data generated from a digital or physical photograph, or 6
an audio or video recording, unless such data is generated to identify a specific 7
individual. 8
(5) “Business associate” has the same meaning as in HIPAA. 9
(6) “Collect” means buying, renting, gathering, obtaining, receiving, or 10
accessing any personal data by any means. This includes receiving data from 11
the consumer, either actively or passively, or by observing the consumer’s 12
behavior. 13
(7) “Compulsive use” means the repetitive use of a covered business’s 14
service that materially disrupts one or more major life activities of a minor, 15
including sleeping, eating, learning, reading, concentrating, communicating, or 16
working. 17
(8)(A) “Consumer” means an individual who is a resident of the State. 18
(B) “Consumer” does not include an individual acting in a 19
commercial or employment context or as an employee, owner, director, officer, 20
or contractor of a company, partnership, sole proprietorship, nonprofit, or 21

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government agency whose communications or transactions with the covered