On June 13, 2023, House Bill 18, Relating to the protection of minors from harmful, deceptive, or unfair trade practices in connection with the use of certain digital services was signed by the Governor of Texas, following its passage by the Texas State Senate and House of Representatives. Notably, the bill enters into effect in stages. Article 3 of the bill, concerning the use and transfer of electronic devices by students, enters into effect immediately. However, the bill stipulates that the remaining provisions take effect on September 1, 2024.

The bill creates duties and obligations for digital service providers to prevent harm to children by, among other things, implementing adequate technical and organizational measures, prohibiting the digital service to collect minors' data unless it complies with the bill, and providing parents or legal guardians with some parental tools to allow them to supervise the minor's use of the digital service.

Minor's data

Digital service providers under the bill, that knowingly publish or distribute material, more than one-third of which is harmful material or obscene, must use a commercially reasonable age verification method to verify that persons seeking access to content through the digital service provider are 18 years of age or older.

The bill highlights that digital service providers must verify, using a commercially reasonable method, and for each person seeking to perform an action on a digital service as a minor's parent or guardian:

• the person's identity; and
• the relationship of the person to the known minor.

Specifically, the bill outlines that a known minor's verified parent may submit a request to a digital service provider to:

• review and download any personal identifying information associated with the minor in the possession of the digital service provider; and
• delete any personally identifying information associated with the minor collected or processed by the digital service provider.

Under the bill, digital service providers must establish and make available on their service, a method by which a known minor's parent or guardian may make a request for access.

Algorithms

Digital service providers under the bill that use algorithms to automate the suggestion, promotion, or ranking of information to known minors on the digital service must:

• make a commercially reasonable effort to ensure that the algorithm does not interfere with the digital service provider's duties under the bill;
• disclose in the service provider's terms of service, privacy policy, or similar document, in a clear and accessible manner, an overview of:
  • the manner in which the digital service uses algorithms to provide information or content;
  • the manner in which algorithms promote, rank, or filter information or content; and
  • the personal identifying information used as inputs to provide information or content.

You can read the amended bill here and track its progress here.