North Carolina’s bill would force people to share their identity documents with social media societies

In North Carolina, legislators are considering a bill that will grant consumers more control over the data collected and sold by companies. Great! Who can oppose this? But that’s not all it is. Depending on national trends, it would also state the disturbing age verification requirements for social media. Although launched in a “saving children” framing, these laws are likely to cause more harm than good.

Last month, Terry Brown (D) and Allen Chesser (R) State Senators presented the NC Personal Data Privacy Act, which establishes six consumption rights concerning personal data. Among them, people can ask to see what information is collected about them, correct inaccuracies and undress if companies sell their data to third parties. Certain information is exempt, such as health information protected by HIPAA. In addition, companies do not need to comply if it would reveal trade secrets.

The bill seems to partially follow the law on the privacy of consumers in North Carolina, which has already been presented to the State Senate but died in committee. However, Eric Nulli, co-director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Privacy & Data Project, told Gizmodo by e-mail that the bill is “another example of confidentiality legislation adapted to industry” which offers little protection due to “low data minimization protections (essentially restoring the current law around) associated with dissected practices) extremely wide exemptions ”.

Unlike its predecessor, this bill is not only focused on consumer confidentiality. In his second half, he also requires social media to establish “reasonable age verification methods” to prevent minors from creating accounts without parental authorization. Under the law, social media platforms must use third -party suppliers to carry out this process. Approved methods include the supply of third parties with a driving license or another form of identification issued by the government. There are some exceptions to this process, such as game sites or platforms generating less than $ 100,000 in annual income.

Age verification legislation is often associated with the restriction of access to porn as with Texas HB 1181 which is now the center of a Supreme Court case. Last year, North Carolina even adopted its own porn bill called the pave act. However, the legislation extending the verification of age to social media has appeared nationally. In 2023, Arkansas adopted its version, and many states envisaged bills, including Minnesota, which in fact wishes to implement anonymous verification and Pennsylvania. This year, American senators have also reintroduced children from the law on social networks to force the federal government to verification of the age of social media.

Anyone with an awareness ounce would be reluctant to this legislation. First of all: they will not work. It is already easy to get around age verification on porn websites. But according to null, age verification is “invasive of privacy”, especially when it requires the use of a third -party supplier.

“The obligation … only takes advantage of no one, except age verification suppliers,” said Null. “Forcing such a thing is even more intrusive of confidentiality, because not only will the social media have access [to] ID user, the same is true for service providers. »»

Although most bills prohibit social media platforms and / or sellers to keep people’s information, you cannot guarantee it. Companies are lying on the data they have or how are used all the time. (Which makes a little ironic to slide age verification mandates in a bill which is designed as data protection, but I move away.) In addition, data violations are becoming more and more common, which can have real consequences such as identity theft.

Privacy defenders and the Electronic Frontier Foundation also noted that the legislation on age verification will disproportionately restrict the already marginalized communities. In the United States, millions of adults do not have or cannot receive a government’s identity document. The most affected include low -income people, the elderly, young adults and colored communities. Overall, although the laws may seem to tackle a problem, age verification simply falls under the usual American moral panic disguised as progress.