NetChoice, a trade association dedicated to making the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression, urged Governor Little to veto House Bill 542. At its core, HB 542 builds a digital ID mandate and surveillance structure into Idaho law — one that would compel platforms to continuously track, estimate and verify the identities of all users, including minors, they say.
Specifically, NetChoice opposes HB 542 as it:
- Fails to protect a single citizen from harm
- Puts minors’ sensitive data at risk
- Violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
They share the legislature’s concern for the safety of Idaho’s minors online. NetChoice members have taken issues of teen safety seriously and in recent years have rolled out numerous new features, settings, parental tools and protections to better empower parents and assist in monitoring their children’s use of social media. In the letter, they ask that he oppose HB542 and instead use this bill as a way to jumpstart a larger conversation about how best to protect minors online and consider alternatives that do not raise constitutional issues.
HB542 Puts Minors’ Sensitive Data at Risk
This bill was ostensibly introduced to protect children but instead it puts children’s sensitive data at greater privacy and security risks. Section 48-2103 imposes a complex and unprecedented age estimation mandate on covered platforms. Beginning within fourteen days of an account holder reaching the “first trigger date” (25 cumulative hours of use in six months), platforms must estimate whether the account holder is 16 or older, with 80% confidence. By the “second trigger date” (50 hours), that threshold rises to 90%. Platforms must then continually update their estimates every 100 hours of use thereafter. This creates strong incentives for platforms to collect sensitive, identifying information about all Idaho users—including minors, the website states.
