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HB 3304

Relating to employment benefits of education workers.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Paul Evans

The bill requires device makers to estimate the primary user’s age at activation and provide an API so services can block or restrict access to mature content for users under 18.

In committee upon adjournment.
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HB 3304

HB 3304 — Digital Age Assurance Act (Introduced 2025)

Status: In committee upon adjournment (last action: 2025-06-28)
Introduced: February 25, 2025 (first reading Feb 18, 2025)
Primary sponsor: Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz; Cosponsor: Rep. Maurice A. West, II
Effective date (if enacted): January 1, 2026

Purpose / Intent

The bill intends to create an industry-wide, device-level system to estimate and signal the age of a device’s primary user to online services. Its stated goals are to (1) protect minors from exposure to mature content, (2) do so in a privacy-protective manner by placing “age assurance” at the device/operating system level, and (3) give parents and guardians tools to manage minors’ online experiences.

Key definitions (selected)

  • Device: any network-capable computing device (desktop, laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc.).
  • Covered manufacturer: a device manufacturer, operating system provider, or application store.
  • Mature content: defined by the bill as having the same meaning as “sexually explicit conduct” per 2256(2)(A) (as cited in the bill).
  • Minor: under 18 years of age.
  • Substantial portion: more than one-third of total material on a site/app.

Major requirements / provisions

  • Age estimation at activation: Covered manufacturers must take commercially reasonable and technically feasible steps to determine or estimate the primary user’s age when a device is activated.
  • Digital age signal/API: Manufacturers must provide a real-time application programming interface (API) that transmits an age signal to websites, apps, application stores, and online services indicating one of these age bands: under 13; 13–15; 16–17; or 18+.
  • App store parental consent: App stores must obtain parental/guardian consent before permitting downloads by individuals under 16 and offer an option to connect the approving parent/guardian with the app developer to facilitate parental supervision tools.
  • Existing devices: For devices sold before the Act’s effective date, manufacturers must include these features via OS and app store updates by default after the effective date.
  • Online service responses to age signals:
    • If a site/app’s content is predominantly mature (substantial portion), it must block access when the age signal indicates under 18, label itself as restricted to adults, and provide a mature-content disclaimer.
    • If mature content is only part of the content, the site/app must block known mature content for users under 18 and give a disclaimer before displaying known mature content.
    • If a site/app has actual knowledge a user is under 18, it must (to the extent commercially reasonable and technically feasible) provide parental/guardian features such as account linking controls, age-appropriate content controls, and daily time limits.
  • Non-discrimination/antitrust guardrails: Covered manufacturers must apply the Act’s restrictions equally to their own services and third parties, and may not use data or consent mechanisms gathered through compliance to gain anti-competitive advantages.
  • Enforcement: The Illinois Attorney General may bring civil actions to enforce the Act; the bill sets civil action provisions (details truncated in available text).
  • Preemption/home rule: The bill includes a limit on home rule (state-level preemption of local rules).

Who is affected

  • Covered manufacturers: device makers, operating system providers, and application stores will need to implement age-estimation methods, APIs, and updates.
  • Websites, apps, and online services: must accept and act on digital age signals, implement content-blocking and parental features, and label/disclaim mature content according to thresholds.
  • Parents/guardians and minors: parents may gain centralized tools to manage minors’ device/app use; minors may face broader access restrictions to mature content.
  • Regulators and legal actors: Illinois Attorney General empowered to enforce.

Practical considerations & potential impacts

  • Technical implementation: “commercially reasonable and technically feasible” is the statutory standard—implementation may vary and raise questions about methods (on-device inference, consent-based verification, biometrics, etc.), accuracy, and privacy safeguards.
  • Privacy trade-offs: device-level age estimation aims to be privacy-protective, but details about data storage, sharing, and retention are key practical issues not fully specified in available text.
  • Industry compliance & competition: nondiscrimination clauses seek to limit anti-competitive use of data, but enforcement and interpretation will matter.
  • Timing: manufacturers must update pre-existing devices via default updates after the Act becomes effective (Jan 1, 2026).

Procedural history (selected)

  • Filed with Clerk: Feb 6, 2025; First reading Feb 18, 2025.
  • Committee referrals: Rules Committee; Public Health; Executive Committee; Behavioral Health and Health Care (multiple re-references noted).
  • Current status: In committee upon adjournment (as of June 28, 2025).

If you’d like, I can (a) summarize missing enforcement specifics if you provide the truncated portions, (b) compare this bill to similar laws in other states, or (c) draft a concise briefing for stakeholders (manufacturers, schools, parents).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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