Legislative Blog

J.B. Williams, J.D.


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A Bit of Background

The following backgrounds help summarize the author's views on both the general topic: Texas and more specifically 88th Legislature Laws as it relates to that topic.

Brief Summary of Texas

Texas is truly a Republic. There are a multitude of items that to modify the state constitution must be modified. So there are times when Constitutional amendments are on the voting ballots. While I sometimes abhor the wording, the concept that all of those legally able to vote in Texas must vote on the change is a good one. And bills in Texas are generally short, making it easier for everyone to understand.

Summary of 88th Legislature Laws

The blogs here will discuss the laws passed by Congress and signed into law, as well as those, passed by Congress and approved by the voters to become law. There are a multitude of laws and each time I post blogs I will notate here the current effective date if it is different from prior blogs. I am currently posting bills that took effect immediately - those bills total 336. I am currently posting regarding larger bills, so each blog covers a single bill.

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Blog Summary

88HB18

Some of the items included in this Act are items that are provided by Digital service providers already, to some extent. Although most service providers seem to limit some parental control to those under the age of 13. This Act does ensure that schools are required to provide information to parents and that the parent provide consent prior to a child using the device. Some of how useful this is will greatly depend on what the agency requires in the details. I could foresee schools merely attempting to advise parents that the child needs to use the electronic device for educational purposes, and some parents still be surprised by what the child is using the device for.



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Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment

Published: 2024-01-29

This Act is specifically aimed at Digital services, or websites, applications, programs, or software that collects or processes personal information that is identifiable via the internet. And it requires a verified parent, meaning the parent or guardian of the known minor whose identify and relationship with the minor have been verified by the digital provider.

It mostly affects digital service providers that allow users to socially interact with others; permits users to create a public or semi-public profile; and allows users to create or post contact that can be viewed by others. The content would include message boards, chat rooms, or landing page, video channel or main feed that contains user content.

Entities not covered include:

  1. state agency;
  2. financial institution;
  3. Entity covered by the US Department of Health and Human Services under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996;
  4. small business as defined by the US Small Business Administration;
  5. institute of higher education;
  6. digital service provider who maintains user information for employment and related employment purposes;
  7. provider that is regulated under the Education Code, providing primarily education services;
  8. a person subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 that operates a digital service and primarily provides educational services;
  9. the portion of a digital service provider that facilitates e-mail or direct messaging services; or
  10. the portion of a digital service provide that provides users with access to news, sports, commerce, or content primarily created or generated by them; and allows chat, comment or other functionality to the service.

A digital service provider must register the person's age when entering into an agreement to create an account. Once the account is established the person may not change their age without a reasonable review process. A minor is considered a minor if they register their age is under 18; or a minor's parent or guardian notify the provider that they are a minor or successfully disputes the registered age of a minor or performs another function of parent/guardian.

I believe most, if not all, providers currently require entry of an age/date of birth prior to permitting the user to create an account. Those that don't ask are ones that are permitting use of another sites information to be used at log in. This means they have that information from the other site, and you are giving your permission for that. So this doesn't add much, other than spelling out that it permits a parent/guardian to dispute inaccurate age. I've actually known parents who have done this in the past with sites and, while not super straight forward, have managed to get this information updated and accurate. It still requires an involved parent(s)/guardian(s) because children can compute dates of birth that make them 18.

A digital service provider entering into an agreement with a known minor shall:

  1. limit collection of personal identifying information to what is reasonably necessary; and
  2. limit use of the known minor's personal identifying information to the purpose for which is was collected; and
  3. they may not;
    • allow the minor to make purchases or enter into financial transactions;
    • share, disclose, or sell the known minor's personal identifying information;
    • use the service to collect precise geolocation data; or
    • use the service to display targeted advertising.

I know Apple has a service for children under 13 where parents can enable an ask to buy option that requires their approval before any downloads are made, free or pay. But once it is disabled after the child is over 13, it cannot be reactivated. If it stays activated, then at 18 it is permanently disabled. Android has a similar service through Google apps. So it appears that some, and probably most, digital service providers have some limitations already in place for children under the age of 13. (I find it amusing that for some matters like internet access the general public seems okay with limits before age 13 and no limits post age 13. However for health insurance the general public thinks adults at age 18 cannot manage to obtain coverage before they are 24. Seriously our age rules in this country are all over the place.)

The law requires digital service providers to develop/implement strategy to prevent minor's exposure to harmful material and content that promotes/glorifies:

  1. suicide, self-harm, eating disorders;
  2. substance abuse;cr
  3. stalking, bullying, or harassment; or
  4. grooming, trafficking, child pornography, or sexual exploitation/abuse.

The strategy must include:

  1. maintaining a comprehensive list of harmful material;
  2. use filtering to enforce blocking of material;
  3. using hash-sharing technology to identify recurring harmful material;
  4. maintaining a database of keywords used for filter evasion;
  5. performing human-performed monitoring reviews;
  6. making the algorithm code available to independent security researchers;
  7. they can use third party to review the filtering technology;
  8. they can participate in industry-specific partnerships to share best practices;
  9. they can condut periodic independent audits to ensure compliance; efficacy of filtering technology and protocols

Digital service providers shall create verified parental tools to allow them to supervise minor's use of digital services. (If a child is in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services, the department may designate the minor's caregiver or a member of the staff to be the listed guardian.) This must allow the verified parent to:

  1. control the minor's privacy and account settings;
  2. restrict the minor from making purchases or engaging in financial transactions;
  3. monitor and limit the amount of time the minor uses the service.

The digital service providers needs to make reasonable efforts to prevent advertising to minors that is is unlawful for them to use or engage in.

Enforcement may be brought by the consumer protection division of the attorney general's office. If a digital service provider violates this act the parent/guardian may bring an action to seek declaratory judgement or an injunction. Other that this, this act does not create a civil cause of action. And a court may not certify a class action under this act.

The agency shall adopt standards for permissible electronic devices and software applications used by schools. In doing so they must:

  1. minimize data collection;
  2. ensure direct and informed parental consent for student's use of software, other than:
    • assessment instrument;
    • assessment for college, career, or military readiness;
  3. ensure software applications do not conduct mental health assessments or other assessments unrelated to educational curricula;
  4. ensure parents have the resources to understand the risks and online safety issues before the child uses the electronic device;
  5. specify periods of time the device must be deactivated in the interest of student safety;
  6. consider age level usage of electronic devices in the classroom to ensure students' abilities to complete assignments without the use of electronic devices;
  7. consider appropriate restrictions on student access to social media on devices transferred to students by the school;
  8. require a school to determine that a non-social media tool is not available for the same educational functionality before using social media for education;
  9. consider the use of Internet filter that would notify administrators, who would notify parent's, if a student accesses inappropriate or concerning content/words; including content related to:
    • self-harm;
    • suicide;
    • voilence to others; or
    • illicit drugs;
  10. assign an appropriate officer to receive complaints or concerns regarding student use of electronic devices;
  11. provides methods for a school to ensure an operator providing software to the school complies with the laws

 


J.B. Williams, J.D.

4,312 federal laws were passed from 1995 through December 2016.
Along with 88,819 federal rules and regulations.


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