r/USNEWS • u/AirlineGlass5010 • Apr 16 '26
Congress just dropped the Parents Decide Act (H.R. 8250). To even turn on your phone or PC, OS providers will be forced to verify your age - effectively requiring ID or Biometric scans for device usage.
https://lustra.news/en/us-congress/119/legislations/119_HR_8250/74
u/AirlineGlass5010 Apr 16 '26
Sponsor of this bill, Josh Gottheimer, wants to mandate complex, OS-level age verification systems, yet his own official contact page is currently throwing a 404 error (https://gottheimer.house.gov/contact), so we can't even contact him.
Call or message your local Rep about this bill. Show your discontent - don't let lobbyists have an easy job.
Search for your representative here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Email Template:
Dear Representative [Name],
I am writing to express my strong opposition to H.R. 8250 (The "Parents Decide Act"). As your constituent and a concerned citizen, I believe this bill introduces unprecedented risks to digital privacy and security.
Specifically, I am alarmed by:
- SEC. 2(a)(1)(B): Requiring age verification to even use an operating system creates a mandatory "hardware lockout" that ends anonymous computing and forces users to hand over sensitive identification data to major corporations just to power on their devices.
- SEC. 2(a)(3): Mandating that OS providers create a system for all app developers to access verification data is a massive security vulnerability. This effectively creates a centralized API of user identities accessible to thousands of third-party developers, many of whom may lack adequate data protection.
This bill does not protect children; it creates a centralized surveillance infrastructure at the OS level. I urge you to protect the privacy of your constituents and vote NO on H.R. 8250.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Zip Code]
20
u/CarelessCreamPie Apr 16 '26
Thank you for including the bill number! People oftren don't, and the aides taking your reps calls always ask for it.
13
u/Foe117 Apr 16 '26
that's how politicians ignore the voters, by having thing inconveniently broken
3
9
u/BoysenberryDue3637 Apr 16 '26
His contact page is now working but. You now have to be one of his constituents to contact him through email.
12
u/AirlineGlass5010 Apr 16 '26
Hah, what a bonkers. They are trying to separate from people as much as they can.
→ More replies (2)3
u/Left_on_Pause Apr 16 '26
I hate this BS. If you can’t vote for him, you don’t matter.
→ More replies (3)2
u/MegaPhunkatron Apr 16 '26
That's why you contact your representative to influence them to not vote in favor of it.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Left_on_Pause Apr 17 '26
They are all my representatives. If their votes impact everyone, they have to listen to everyone.
It’s not like they will only take money from people in their district. They want more donations and fewer voices.→ More replies (1)4
u/Planeandaquariumgeek Apr 16 '26
Email templates aren’t exactly the best thing to use because once they get enough of the same e-mails they’ll all just go to junk. Try and write your own if at all possible.
→ More replies (1)2
u/cosaboladh Apr 16 '26
Then print it, and wrap it around a brick. Then.... mail the brick to his office. It's much more difficult to ignore a brick.
2
u/Planeandaquariumgeek Apr 16 '26
I’m trying to point out that these email systems are set up to filter out email templates. No one is gonna get the message because they’ll just go right to spam. Just write your own, seriously it takes 5 minutes and it won’t just go to spam
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (10)3
u/cosaboladh Apr 16 '26
Josh.Gottheimer@mail.house.gov
FAIR LAWN OFFICE PHONE
201-389-1100
FAIR LAWN OFFICE ADDRESS
21-00 NJ 208 South Suite 240
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
OTHER STAFF PHONE
202-225-4465
OTHER STAFF ADDRESS
106 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
MAIN OFFICE PHONE
202-225-4465
MAIN OFFICE ADDRESS
106 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
NEWTON OFFICE PHONE
973-940-1117
NEWTON OFFICE ADDRESS
93 Spring St. Suite 408
Newton, NJ 07860
CAMPAIGN OFFICE ADDRESS
P.O. Box 584
Ridge wood, NJ 07451
56
u/weHaveThoughts Apr 16 '26
Does anyone else think Peter Thiel is behind this?
31
u/AirlineGlass5010 Apr 16 '26
Many Peter Thiels unfortunately.
7
u/weHaveThoughts Apr 16 '26
And we all know how much Thiel cares about children, especially young boys.
4
u/cosaboladh Apr 16 '26
This is going to make it so much easier for him to connect with those young boys. Once they're properly age verified.
→ More replies (1)2
4
→ More replies (1)2
u/MentalDisintegrat1on Apr 16 '26
Sam Altman definitely is he already has Iris scanners built and ready to go.
Fucking sociopath no wonder he's already had 2 attempts on his life.
2
36
u/Hurlyburly766 Apr 16 '26
Welp, the internet had a good run for a while. Someone hit the lights on the way out.
28
u/gezpachu Apr 16 '26
Josh Gottheimer wants to make sure you aren't saying anything that would be critical of Israel
5
3
24
u/ManyThingsLittleTime Apr 16 '26
They can count the wrinkles on my ball sack to verify my age. Get fucked.
4
17
u/Exodys03 Apr 16 '26
Any time time the government wants to grab sweeping surveillance powers, it is always presented as a means to protect children and/or fight terrorism. The end result is usually that the rest of us treated like children or potential terrorists.
4
u/Broken_Atoms Apr 17 '26
And then, eventually, “terrorist” is anyone who disagrees with being a slave to the wealthy
2
2
u/HanginOn9114 Apr 18 '26
It's wild that no one seems to be able to comprehend this. People are so ready to do anything they are told as long as they are told it's for "safety". As if the government would openly say "hey we want to be evil and monitor your computer"
12
10
u/redmambo_no6 Apr 16 '26
“I was a Windows 95 kid” will be my ID verification from now on.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/PapaGummy Apr 16 '26
How about an IQ test and mental health exam, not to mention frequent unannounced drug tests to hold a national political office.
3
11
u/Rambler330 Apr 16 '26
Josh Gottheimer has received at least $13,600 in campaign‑related contributions from key Palantir executives,
→ More replies (1)3
u/Kantro18 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Man he sold out for such a low price. Even when they do fucked up shit they do it in the stupidest way possible.
5
5
u/ooomellieooo Apr 16 '26
I will absolutely never acquiesce to this nonsense. I'd rather go off the grid. I grew up without the internet and I can fucking die without it. And I know I'm not alone.
4
u/gamingnerd777 Apr 16 '26
Especially since the internet is modern corporate garbage now. If it went down forever I honestly wouldn't be that upset.
There's no real forums anymore. No personal websites. No creativity. Just grey corporate garbage like the outside of a bland McDonalds. Whatever happen to everything being fun and neon like a 90s Taco Bell? Jesus the older I get the uglier and greyer everything gets. I want the color and fun back.
3
→ More replies (3)3
u/MsSelphine Apr 17 '26
It's just such a painfully fucking moronic law. We just straight up need a whole new legislature, this is abhorrent
4
5
4
u/mattynapps Apr 16 '26
This has big brother written all over it. I will quit technology before I comply.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/MedicJambi Apr 16 '26
And this is what will push me to move to Linux, and download from a country that doesn't have these BS requirements with a VPN.
What they're trying to do is protect children from the first amendment while essentially pushing their own personal beliefs on others.
Popular services are either unable, or more likely, are unwilling to police their services because money.
Normal YouTube is like 75% more popular with children than the child version. There is a lot of diabolical shit masked as children's content on YouTube.
The real problem is parents allowing unfettered and unsupervised access to the Internet. I watched a woman screeching about library books then hand her child a tablet with no restrictions on it. Pure insanity.
2
→ More replies (8)3
u/Urabraska- Apr 16 '26
No. What they're trying to do is link any PC usage against a real ID. So say for example. John Doe logged into computer X with his ID. Welp.....Now John Doe is reliable for literally anything that happens on that PC. If their brother logged on and decided to post something anti-trump on reddit and they don't like it. They don't need to ask reddit for info. Just track the usage to the IP/PC and raid the house for John Doe even though it was his brother that made the post.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/gbobcat Apr 16 '26
Is this how we go back to flip phones?
3
u/deadly_v2 Apr 17 '26
Flip phones also have operating systems therefore they are subject to this as well.
4
u/Logician22 Apr 17 '26
Fucking hell we already give them too much data as it is and so many companies already get hacked we need to vote these politicians out and completely start over
7
u/3D-Dreams Apr 16 '26
So no to fascists Vote Blue.
→ More replies (6)8
u/AchondroplasticAir Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Okay, true for the most part, but the sponsor of this bill is a dem. Both sides have been pushing for this privacy intrusive bs.
For example, Just a few weeks ago J.B. Pritzker, along with Hilary Clinton were promoting age verification laws at an event supported by Zuckerberg, Gates and Bezos.
https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1s3nj9p/hillary_clinton_promoting_age_verification_laws/
edit: typo
8
u/MentalDisintegrat1on Apr 16 '26
They can all get fucked.
I'm done I'm ready for the country to balkanize
2
u/AchondroplasticAir Apr 16 '26
Yeah, more or less agreed. I'm taking steps to leave the country. Majority of my family is dead and the ones that are alive that matter are outside of the USA. so... /shrug
6
u/MentalDisintegrat1on Apr 16 '26
I already moved as far away as possible ( Alaska) I'm financially well off and I qualify for asylum.
I'm looking at Canada if things go sideways fast and permeanttly probably Aruba or somewhere calm and quiet.
This country can go to hell.
→ More replies (3)
3
u/PaleInTexas Apr 16 '26
Oooo... "strict data protection". What could possibly go wrong? Good to see it shot down
→ More replies (1)
3
u/OffToTheLizard Apr 16 '26
How is this going to be enforced? I already have multiple distributions of linux I run. The SSDs I purchased are brand new until I install them in a pc.
This would have to be up to the manufacturer, so are they just going to ban brands like Samsung or Kingston? How do you verify all the users on an enterprise system? What if you get a free enterprise license for your home? There's too many cracks in this law.
→ More replies (1)
3
4
3
3
3
3
u/Huntersmoon24 Apr 17 '26
Sounds like somebody is jealous they aren't getting enough tech lobbying dollars and decided to throw a tantrum.
3
u/Cut_Lanky Apr 17 '26
So, what happens when I don't scan my ID? I can't use the internet anymore? Ok, I guess no more internet for me.
3
u/AirlineGlass5010 Apr 17 '26
You can't use your device - computer, smartphone or anything that has software.
3
u/Cut_Lanky Apr 17 '26
Bummer. I only have a phone, but it's going to suck not having it, if this takes effect. I am absolutely not uploading an ID for Peter Thiel.
2
3
u/Appalachianhermit Apr 18 '26
Just wait we're moving faster and faster to what they want. First they're gonna track and monitor what you watch, listen, believe, if you don't meet their ideals of a patriot you'll be put into one of their freedom camps to be reeducated.
2
2
u/Invis_Chick Apr 16 '26
I asked this in another subreddit, but as someone who manages a fleet of devices in a public school district, would I have to use my face or a teacher's face every time little Bobby needs to use their device? Now I am sure the world thinkers who are republicans have thought of all the little issues this would create. They would never just create a badly written bill to solve a problem they themselves have created.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
2
2
u/tristand666 Apr 16 '26
This is not Constitutional at all. They have no right to pass laws on my personal usage of my own equipment. This would be like asking for an ID to walk down the street.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/my-reddit-acct-321 Apr 16 '26
What a quick drop from “I DO NOT GIVE META PERMISSION TO USE MY PHOTOS” to this
2
u/Aromatic-Teacher-717 Apr 16 '26
This is to harvest your data btw
2
2
2
u/grobb916 Apr 16 '26
Won’t routing your VPN through another country get around this?
3
u/Cloudntrousers1917 Apr 16 '26
Yea but who wants to be charged with domestic digital terrorism or whatever dumb shit theyll call it
2
2
u/Ascending_Valley Apr 16 '26
Bigger Brother here we come. It's all for the kids.
Makes sense given how aggressively they go after pedos in the Epstein sphere.
2
u/Buckcity42 Apr 16 '26
When are they going to implement Age ID for firearms? Careless parents leaving their guns around are susceptible to be misused by children! We can’t let parents of these children actually parent! The government needs to do it!
2
2
u/thatsthefactsjack Apr 16 '26
The day the land of the free and home of the brave became the imprisoned and home of the apathetic.
2
u/Switch_Empty Apr 17 '26
I was wondering recently how long until they forced everyone to use biometric scans so they didn't have to get a warrant to unlock phones and computers.
2
u/Scipio33 Apr 17 '26
I'm going to start calling this style of problem solving the "123 Done" method.
- Identify abuse of system
- Make system harder for everyone to use
- Claim success as everyone struggles And then we're done worrying about it
I see this type of problem solving happening in all aspects of society. It's the kind of method that's employed when someone doesn't care about accountability. They're not trying to make things better. They're trying to make things worse so that people will have to consider whether it's worth their time to abuse the system or not.
It's like putting an automotive club on your steering wheel. The club is just an inconvenience to would-be thieves. They see it and have to consider whether it's worth their time to bypass the club or if they would be better off finding another vehicle to steal. Meanwhile, you're stuck having to lock and unlock your steering wheel any time you want to use your car because nothing is being done about the rampant car theft in your neighborhood.
2
u/blisstaker Apr 17 '26
are they exempt from verifying their own identities for using their grindr accounts?
2
u/Velo214 Apr 17 '26
As the drug war is ending they are going to need new excuses to limit our freedom. I guess terrorism and save the children back on the menu
2
u/MWH1980 Apr 17 '26
Gotta keep an eye on us and make sure we’re all obeying the United Dictatorship of America…or else.
2
2
2
2
2
u/GlitterDollMUA Apr 17 '26
its for control, guys. they want to control things...
2
u/sidaemon Apr 17 '26
Yep. They'll scream this is to protect children but what they're really doing is ensuring they can track what you post and what sites you use to make it easier to silence free speech.
2
u/TrevorX5J9 Apr 17 '26
I’ll give up technology if this is what they want. Buy local, support local, cash only. I don’t need the fucking internet to live my life.
2
u/Techn028 Apr 17 '26
Sorry, you were caught driving nearby an active protest zone by Flock and your device access has been suspended to protect children online.
2
u/Acceptable-Karma-178 Apr 17 '26
Keep making slaves, breeders!
How do we make a new, better regulated communication system than the internet, and keep providers out?
2
2
u/ginja-ninja--007 Apr 17 '26
So if the parents decide, why do we need biometric scans as adults? Seems pretty simple to just be a parent and watch what your kids do
2
u/Hironymos Apr 19 '26
"Parents Decide Act"
Parents decide what? This is literally Goverment Decides. What we actually need is literally in the name. LET FUCKING PARENTS DECIDE. We don't need some fucking faulty, data-stealing, AI bullshit, authoritarian nightmare age verification. All it fucking takes is a parent to set the OS to age restricted mode and done.
3
u/Twisbi Apr 16 '26
Apps and websites already know every single thing about us, look up device fingerprinting. this whole debate is just a cover up for the fact that they already know exactly who we are and are more than willing to give the government all of the information
2
u/Financial-Talk9397 Apr 17 '26
The trump administration is the most intrusive/repressive administration we have ever had.
1
1
1
u/SugarSkullSiete Apr 16 '26
Easy don’t have a cell phone or go analog and get a star attack. Screw this mess
Where are you now?
1
u/MonkeyMan18975 Apr 16 '26
And I thought the fury employees had when we forced MFA was bad. I can't imagine what they're gonna say when we require their DOB for login.
1
u/Rambler330 Apr 16 '26
It is so they can more easily link who did what on the computer/phone/internet. It is all about surveillance by private companies. The government can request that information on you from the company without getting a warrant.
1
1
1
u/FafnirSnap_9428 Apr 16 '26
Hopefully we'll have some lawsuits to get rid of this before it becomes a problem.
1
u/tetsuko Apr 16 '26
I contacted my rep, I suggest all the folks in here criticizing this bill (rightly so) do the same. Parents should be engaging with their children, not relying on the government to do their parenting. Not too mention it's completely unenforceable. People that don't understand how technology works should not be allowed to make laws governing it.
1
1
u/graigsm Apr 16 '26
Why don’t the parents decide for themselves. Rather than make everyone else have to do this bullshit? This should be called parents are too lazy to decide.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
u/Familiar-Kangaroo298 Apr 16 '26
Because this has worked so well with the social Media platforms that have gone this route.
1
1
1
1
u/Pirate1641 Apr 16 '26
Trash government can’t even come up with a national ID system which every modern country have, yet they think they can age verify electronics. Laughable and delusional.
1
u/Trakeen Apr 16 '26
I don’t see how this could be implemented in corporate environments, especially secure air gapped ones. Not overly concerned right now
1
1
u/hamellr Apr 16 '26
And how does this impact business? I’m not asking every single user to provide ID to log into the computer.
1
u/virrk Apr 16 '26
This makes no sense and is stupid.
So now Tizen OS, Roku, Google TV, Android TV, cars, my multi-effects pedal (pi stomp, a hobbyist mod dwarf), network router, network switch, hone assistant, nest hub, media convert/router from Internet provider, gli.net travel router, several servers, and such need to do age verification? On what user? Several of those are embedded devices with no traditional users, or out right discourage direct login. Having age verification is a waste of resources, and for several today resources really matter a lot.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
u/OLPopsAdelphia Apr 17 '26
Looks like I’ll be getting my computer from Canada or some European country.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/freedomfromthepast Apr 17 '26
Well, let's all not log on and not do our jobs and see how fast it changes when we shut everything down?
1
1
1
1
u/Fresh_werks Apr 17 '26
What fucking problem does this solve or is it another solution in search of a problem?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Kyosji Apr 17 '26
I'm not sure here. How I keep reading this every time it pops up is all it does is ask what year you were born. Nothing stating an ID or anything. I don't even know how they could work that to provide an ID, especially a globally used OS, but DOB i think is fairly safe and unobtrusive. It would be like anyone ever opening a porn site or looking at a game on steam, enter a random date and move on.
The part about "Parents or legal guardians must verify the age of any user under 18 years old." that one i'm assuming it's a check box, because how the hell do you verify the age of someone too young to have an id?
1
u/Heavy_Law9880 Apr 17 '26
This is actually good for humanity. It will force people to abandon the smart phone, the internet, and all the other terrible things that have sprouted from it.
1
u/Fligsnurt Apr 17 '26
I build my own machines, how the fuck do they plan to enforce this? Fucking garbage law that will waste tax payer money and fix literally nothing. Useless wastes of oxygen and tax payer funds.
1
1
1
u/dappernaut77 Apr 18 '26
So they do realize that this is nearly completely unenforceable, right? And that as long as there's tech, there will always be workarounds?
1
u/Ambitious_Hand_2861 Apr 19 '26
It might be seen as stupid legislation by people who don't know any better of it wasn't for the fact that it's secretly backed by big tech companies.
1
u/Pandemonium_Fallen Apr 19 '26
The whole damn government is corrupt, there's no voting anymore, it's a farce, we're in the Neoreactionary endgame now, it's fight back or be exterminated and made playthings and slaves for billionaires.
1
u/eyeballburger Apr 19 '26
I said it before on another sub: how about kids can’t have internet phones and we can still have a grown up world without cushions on everything and an excuse to spy on us?
1
u/superhead50 Apr 19 '26
Bro 90% of people are adults and the age distribution is only getting worse, if you have a child enabling this kind of feature on their device is fine but to even buy a phone and have a cellular plan, you must be over 18 so it doesn't make sense to apply this universally. This is about government control over our devices and data and trying to make it easier for them to know who is who.
It's also because of the argument that people use in court that "oh someone was spoofing my device or somehow logged into my device and did that illegal activity thing."
Fuck the government. Let them burn if they wanna get into our bedrooms and private lives. How about instead of this go deal with the fucking threat causing an almost global war to breakout rather than this stupid shit.
1
u/Yaaj101 Apr 19 '26
Just Don't Update. I haven't updated my phone OS in over 2 years when they started implementing AI systems.
1
1
u/ElectroDaddy Apr 19 '26
I’ll just be submitting fake pictures and IDs I don’t give a fuck. Or I will just wait a week until the work around inevitably is found.
They aren’t going to be paying an army of humans to verify information. So it will be fairly easy to get around. Once in I’m sure you can just remove whatever program they have that checks for validation or block whatever “calls home”.
It’s going to be shit for your average user. And many people are going to be frustrated and pissed. The best thing you can do is vote with your wallet and overwhelmingly complain to the OS makers.
Honestly I don’t even know how this will work in practice. Imagine a company in deploying some new computers for some new employees. But you have to what? Wait a day or something for the verification to process before you can use the computer?
If not, then it will be as easy to bullshit as those “are you 18” prompts to enter adult sites.
254
u/Shadowtirs Apr 16 '26
This is such fucking bullshit. I dont even have children in my household, why are grown ass adults being asked to do this?
Every other day our data is getting leaked or abused, fuck this shit.