PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] · R–IN
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 22, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.10207 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.10207 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.10207 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.10207 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-01 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed GUARDIAN Act would require certain online platforms to get a parent’s verified permission before handling personal data about users they know, or should know, are under 16, except emancipated minors. Parents could withdraw permission and require the account to close. Platforms would also face data-deletion duties when accounts close or users turn 16, with exceptions for legally required retention and parental requests, respectively.
This Act may be cited as the Governing Underage Access and Requiring Data Consent In All Networks Act or the GUARDIAN Act.
(3) Covered minor (A) The term covered minor means a user who the provider of a covered online platform knows or should have known is under the age of 16. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an individual who is under the age of 16 and is emancipated from a parent is not a covered minor.
(a) Prohibition A provider of a covered platform may not process the personal data of a covered minor without obtaining the verifiable consent of a parent of the covered minor.
(d) Withdrawal of parental consent (1) In general A parent may withdraw consent for a covered minor at any time through a method that is at least as easy to use as the method by which consent was granted. (2) Termination required Not later than 10 days after withdrawal, the provider of a covered platform shall terminate the covered minor’s account and comply with the deletion obligations of section 5.
(a) In general Upon termination of a covered minor’s account under this Act, the provider of a covered platform shall delete the personal data of the covered minor, except data the provider of a covered platform is required by law to retain. (b) Graduation (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the provider of a covered platform may not retain the personal data associated with an account of a covered minor after the date on which the covered minor attains the age of 16. (2) Parental consent Paragraph (1) shall not apply if a parent of a covered minor submits to the provider of a covered platform a request to retain the personal data associated with the account of the covered minor after the covered minor attains the age of 16.
Section 2 defines covered platforms through several combined requirements: public internet access, searchable accounts that others can follow or similarly access, a primary purpose of sharing user-created content, engagement-promoting features, and use of personal information for advertising, marketing, or content recommendations. Section 6 contains a different coverage reference, creating uncertainty described below.
(2) Covered platform The term covered platform means a platform that is a website, software, application, or electronic service connected to the internet that meets the following requirements: (A) Is publicly available for use by consumers. (B) Enables the creation of a username or user identifier— (i) that is searchable on the platform by other users through a function made available by the platform; and (ii) that can be followed by or is similarly accessible to other users of the platform. (C) As the primary purpose of the platform, facilitates the sharing and access to user-generated content through text, images, video, audio, or any other interactive medium. (D) Uses a design feature to promote user engagement on the platform. (E) Uses the personal information of the user to advertise, market, or make content recommendations.
(b) Coverage Coverage under this Act is determined solely by reference to the structural and design characteristics enumerated in paragraph (4) of section 2.
The proposed protections would cover account or profile holders whom a provider knows or should have known are under 16. Emancipated people under 16 would be excluded. A parent would mean an adult legally authorized to make decisions for the minor, including an adoptive parent, legal guardian, or person with legal custody.
(3) Covered minor (A) The term covered minor means a user who the provider of a covered online platform knows or should have known is under the age of 16. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an individual who is under the age of 16 and is emancipated from a parent is not a covered minor.
(10) User The term user means, with respect to a covered platform, an individual who creates or maintains an account or profile on the covered platform.
(6) Parent The term parent, with respect to a minor, means an adult with the legal right to make decisions on behalf of the minor, including any of the following: (A) A natural parent. (B) An adoptive parent. (C) A legal guardian. (D) An individual with legal custody over the minor.
Engagement-promoting design features would include infinite scrolling, automatic playback, usage rewards, notifications, usage-based badges, appearance-changing filters, and personalized recommendations. The definition concerns features that encourage or increase a covered minor’s frequency of use or time spent.
(4) Design feature The term design feature— (A) means any feature or component of a covered platform that encourages an increase in or increases the frequency of use or time spent by a user who is a covered minor with respect to such covered platform; and (B) includes— (i) infinite scrolling or auto play; (ii) rewards or incentives based on frequency of use or time spent; (iii) notifications and push alerts; (iv) badges or other visual award symbols based on frequency of use or time spent; (v) appearance altering filters; and (vi) personalized recommendation systems.
Personalized recommendation systems would mean fully automated systems that use personal data to suggest, promote, or rank content. Systems relying solely on language, city or town, or age would be excluded from that definition. Fully automated means the final results reach a covered minor without platform review or alteration.
(5) Fully automated system The term fully automated system means an algorithm the final outputs of which are, once computed, displayed directly to a covered minor without review or alteration by a covered platform.
(8) Personalized recommendation system The term personalized recommendation system— (A) means a fully automated system used to suggest, promote, or rank content, including other users, hashtags, and posts, based on the personal data of a user; and (B) does not include a fully automated system that suggests, promotes, or ranks content based solely on the language, city or town, or age of a user.
The consent requirement would reach many ways of handling data, including collecting, using, storing, sharing, analyzing, deleting, and modifying it. The bill imports its definition of personal data from the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 without reproducing that definition.
(7) Personal data The term personal data has the meaning given the term personal information in section 1302 of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501).
(9) Process The term process means any operation or set of operations performed, whether by manual or automated means, on personal data or on sets of personal data, such as the collection, use, storage, disclosure, analysis, deletion, or modification of personal data.
(a) Prohibition A provider of a covered platform may not process the personal data of a covered minor without obtaining the verifiable consent of a parent of the covered minor.
Providers would have to make reasonable efforts, considering available technology, to give parents direct notice of data practices and secure their free, unambiguous authorization before collecting a covered minor’s data. Authorization would also cover subsequent uses. After obtaining consent, providers would have to send written or electronic confirmation describing the account and data practices covered.
(11) Verifiable consent The term verifiable consent means any reasonable effort (taking into consideration available technology) by the provider of a covered platform, including a request for authorization for future collection, use, and disclosure described in the notice, to ensure that a parent of a covered minor— (A) receives direct notice of the collection, use, maintenance, disclosure, and other relevant processing practices of the provider of a covered platform with respect to personal data; and (B) before the personal data of the covered minor is collected, freely and unambiguously authorizes— (i) the collection, use, maintenance, disclosure, and other relevant processing practices, as applicable, of the personal data; and (ii) any subsequent use of the personal data.
(c) Written confirmation Upon obtaining verifiable consent from a parent of a covered minor, the provider of a covered platform shall provide the parent of such covered minor with written or electronic confirmation of the consent and a description of the account and data practices to which it applies.
An exception would allow data processing without parental consent solely to determine a user’s age, subject to safeguards. Providers would have to give clear, conspicuous notice beforehand, keep the data only as long as strictly necessary, and delete it promptly once age is determined.
(b) Age determination Notwithstanding subsection (a), a provider of a covered platform may process the personal data of a covered minor if— (1) the provider of the covered platform processes such personal data for the sole purpose of determining the age of a user; (2) the provider of the covered platform does not retain such personal data any longer than the period strictly necessary to determine the age of the user and deletes such personal data promptly upon determining the age of the user; (3) prior to processing any personal data for the purpose of determining the age of the user, the provider of the covered platform provides the user with clear and conspicuous notice that such personal data is processed for determining the age of the user;
For the age-check exception, providers would also have to use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security suited to the data’s volume, sensitivity, and nature. They would have to reasonably determine that their age-check methods or services are likely to produce reasonably accurate results.
(4) the provider of the covered platform employs reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of personal data processed for determining the age of the user and such security practices are appropriate to the volume, sensitivity, and nature of such personal data; (5) the provider of the covered platform reasonably determines that any product, service, method, or third party used for determining the age of the user is likely to provide reasonably accurate results as to the age of the user;
When sharing data with a third party for an age check, providers would have to take reasonable steps to assess its ability to protect the data. They would also have to obtain written assurances of reasonable security, age-check-only processing, and prompt deletion afterward.
(6) in the case that the provider of the covered platform discloses such personal data to a third party to determine the age of the user, the provider of the covered platform takes reasonable steps to determine the third party is capable of maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of such personal data, including by obtaining written assurances that such third party will employ reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices to do so, will not process such personal data for any purpose other than determining the age of the user, and will delete the personal data promptly after determining the age of the user.
Parents could withdraw consent at any time through a method at least as easy as giving it. Within 10 days, the provider would have to close the minor’s account and comply with section 5’s deletion obligations. Section 5 also requires a download opportunity before deletion, leaving a timing question discussed in the limitations.
(d) Withdrawal of parental consent (1) In general A parent may withdraw consent for a covered minor at any time through a method that is at least as easy to use as the method by which consent was granted. (2) Termination required Not later than 10 days after withdrawal, the provider of a covered platform shall terminate the covered minor’s account and comply with the deletion obligations of section 5.
(c) Availability The operator shall, for a period of not fewer than 90 days before deletion pursuant to subsection (a) or subsection (b), make available to the parent a means to download the covered minor’s personal data in a portable, machine-readable format.
The bill would require renewed parental consent. Its renewal sentence mentions material changes to design features or data practices, a minor’s transition between age bands if a tiered structure is adopted, and every 24 months, but does not clearly separate these triggers.
(e) Re-Consent A provider of a covered platform shall obtain renewed verifiable parental consent upon a material change to the covered platform’s design features or data practices the covered minor’s transition across an age band, if a tiered structure is adopted every 24 months.
Providers could avoid liability for violating section 3(a)’s consent requirement by acting within five days of discovering or being told that a user is a covered minor. They would have to either promptly delete all personal data processed in connection with that account or obtain verifiable parental consent.
4. Right to cure A provider of a covered platform may not be held liable for a violation of section 3(a) if, within five days of identifying or being notified that a user is a covered minor, the provider— (1) promptly deletes all personal data about the covered minor that is processed in connection with the account of the user; or (2) the provider obtains the verifiable consent of a parent of the covered minor.
When a covered minor’s account is closed under the proposed Act, the provider would have to delete the minor’s personal data, except information it is legally required to retain.
(a) In general Upon termination of a covered minor’s account under this Act, the provider of a covered platform shall delete the personal data of the covered minor, except data the provider of a covered platform is required by law to retain.
Providers generally could not keep a covered minor’s account data after the user turns 16. This restriction would not apply if a parent requests that the data be retained after that birthday.
(b) Graduation (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the provider of a covered platform may not retain the personal data associated with an account of a covered minor after the date on which the covered minor attains the age of 16. (2) Parental consent Paragraph (1) shall not apply if a parent of a covered minor submits to the provider of a covered platform a request to retain the personal data associated with the account of the covered minor after the covered minor attains the age of 16.
For at least 90 days before deletion under section 5’s account-closure or age-16 rules, parents would have to be offered a way to download the minor’s data in a format computers can read and transfer.
(c) Availability The operator shall, for a period of not fewer than 90 days before deletion pursuant to subsection (a) or subsection (b), make available to the parent a means to download the covered minor’s personal data in a portable, machine-readable format.
The bill would not impose liability based on the viewpoint, subject matter, or content of user-created material or the platform itself. It also would not impose liability based on a minor’s or provider’s access to or distribution of a particular category of speech.
(a) In general Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impose liability on a provider of a covered platform on the basis of— (1) the viewpoint, subject matter, or content of any user-generated content or of the covered platform; or (2) a covered minor’s or provider of a covered platform’s access to, or dissemination of, any particular category of speech.
Section 6 says coverage would depend solely on the characteristics in section 2(4). That paragraph defines engagement-promoting design features, while section 2(2) separately defines covered platforms. The supplied text does not resolve how these coverage provisions fit together.
(b) Coverage Coverage under this Act is determined solely by reference to the structural and design characteristics enumerated in paragraph (4) of section 2.
(4) Design feature The term design feature— (A) means any feature or component of a covered platform that encourages an increase in or increases the frequency of use or time spent by a user who is a covered minor with respect to such covered platform;
(2) Covered platform The term covered platform means a platform that is a website, software, application, or electronic service connected to the internet that meets the following requirements:
The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the proposed Act and its regulations. Violations would be treated as violations of federal rules against unfair or deceptive practices, using the Commission’s existing statutory powers, penalties, privileges, and immunities.
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices A violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(2) Powers of Commission The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this Act and the regulations promulgated under this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
States could sue on behalf of residents when a state attorney general, official, or agency has reason to believe a violation has harmed or threatens residents’ interests. In appropriate state or federal courts, states could seek orders stopping violations, compliance, damages, repayment, other compensation, or other appropriate relief.
(b) Actions by States (1) In general In any case in which the attorney general of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of such State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or practice in violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate State court or an appropriate district court of the United States to— (A) enjoin such act or practice; (B) enforce compliance with this Act or such regulation; (C) obtain damages, restitution, or other compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or (D) obtain such other legal and equitable relief as the court may consider to be appropriate.
A state attorney general would have to notify the Federal Trade Commission and provide the complaint before filing a case, or immediately upon filing if advance notice is infeasible. The Commission could join the case, be heard on all matters after joining, and file petitions for appeal.
(2) Notice Before filing an action under this subsection, the attorney general of the State involved shall provide to the Federal Trade Commission a written notice of such action and a copy of the complaint for such action. If the attorney general determines that it is not feasible to provide the notice described in this paragraph before the filing of the action, the attorney general shall provide written notice of the action and a copy of the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission immediately upon the filing of the action.
(3) Authority of Federal Trade Commission (A) In general On receiving notice under paragraph (2) of an action under this subsection, the Federal Trade Commission shall have the right— (i) to intervene in the action; (ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters arising therein; and (iii) to file petitions for appeal.
While a civil enforcement case brought by the Federal Trade Commission or U.S. Attorney General is pending, state attorneys general could not bring cases under this provision against the same defendants for violations alleged in the federal complaint. The bill would preserve state attorneys general’s existing investigative powers for bringing these cases.
(B) Limitation on State action while Federal action is pending If the Federal Trade Commission or the Attorney General of the United States has instituted a civil action for violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act (referred to in this subparagraph as the Federal action), no State attorney general may bring an action under this subsection during the pendency of the Federal action against any defendant named in the complaint in the Federal action for any violation of this Act or regulation alleged in such complaint.
(4) Rule of construction For purposes of bringing a civil action under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney general of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the laws of such State to conduct investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence.
The proposal would override state and local rules only where they conflict with it. It would preserve laws governing contracts, civil wrongs, and product liability, and allow states and localities to adopt or enforce stronger protections for minors.
(a) In general The provisions of this Act shall preempt any law, rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or a political subdivision of a State, only to the extent that such law, rule, requirement, or regulation conflicts with a provision of this Act. (b) Exception Notwithstanding subsection (a), nothing in this Act may be construed— (1) to preempt any law, rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or political subdivision of a State, with respect to contract, tort, or product liability; or (2) to prohibit a State, or a political subdivision of a State, from enacting or enforcing any law, rule, requirement, or regulation that provides greater protection to minors than the protection provided by the provisions of this Act.
If enacted, the Act would take effect 18 months after enactment. The text does not set a fixed calendar date.
9. Effective date This Act shall take effect on the date that is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 22, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 1, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-22T18:34:18Z. 2026-09-01: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 2026-09-01: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-01. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish what appears in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying materials needed to assess formal earmark status are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains a narrow coverage exemption related to the main policy. Identifying it does not establish that it is unjustified or politically motivated.
Providers would be exempt from the bill’s parental-consent requirement when handling data about emancipated users under 16, because those users are expressly excluded from the definition of covered minor. This is a narrow exception to the main policy for users under 16; it also lets those emancipated users fall outside the proposed parental-permission requirement.
(3) Covered minor (A) The term covered minor means a user who the provider of a covered online platform knows or should have known is under the age of 16. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an individual who is under the age of 16 and is emancipated from a parent is not a covered minor.
(a) Prohibition A provider of a covered platform may not process the personal data of a covered minor without obtaining the verifiable consent of a parent of the covered minor.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 22, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI