What This Bill Does
This Senate bill would require certain artificial intelligence providers to build child safety protections into their systems, give parents control settings, and undergo independent audits. It would also bar child-targeted advertising and the sale or sharing of children’s personal information. The bill is aimed at companies that design or operate AI products used by children or that collect data about them, with compliance centered on product design, privacy controls, and outside review. In practical terms, it would push AI services toward safer defaults for minors and tighter rules around children’s data use.
- Requires certain AI providers to implement child safety by design.
- Adds parental settings for children using covered AI systems.
- Calls for independent audits of covered AI providers.
- Prohibits child-targeted advertising.
- Bars the sale or sharing of children’s personal information.
Who This Bill Affects
If you use AI tools in a household with children, this bill would likely mean more parental controls, stronger limits on child-targeted ads, and tighter handling of children’s personal information. For adults generally, the most noticeable effect would be that some AI products may add more safety prompts, age-gating, or data restrictions, while companies may change how they collect and use information. That could improve privacy and safety for families, but it may also reduce personalization in some services.
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- Bill
- S 4855
- Congress
- 119th Congress
- Official title
- A bill to require providers of certain artificial intelligence systems to implement child safety by design, parental settings, and independent audits, to prohibit child targeted advertising and the sale or sharing of children's personal information, and for other purposes.
- Policy area
- Technology
- Latest action
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (June 23, 2026)
- Last updated
- June 24, 2026
Who Supports & Opposes This
- Parents and family advocates They would likely argue that children need stronger safeguards in AI products that can track behavior, influence attention, or expose them to harmful content. Parental settings and audit requirements give families more control and make company promises more credible.
- Child privacy and online safety advocates They would likely support the bill as a needed update to privacy rules for AI-era products. In their view, children should not be a source of behavioral data or advertising revenue, and companies should have to prove their systems are designed with minors in mind.
- Schools and youth-serving institutions Educators may favor clearer safety standards because AI tools are increasingly used in learning environments. Standardized protections could make it easier to adopt AI responsibly while reducing the chance that student data is exploited.
- AI developers and startups They may argue that mandatory audits, parental controls, and child-specific design requirements add compliance costs and slow product development. Smaller firms could find the administrative burden especially heavy if they have to redesign systems to meet strict child-safety standards.
- Digital advertisers and ad-supported platforms They would likely oppose restrictions on child-targeted ads and data sharing because those limits can reduce revenue and weaken targeting models. They may say broad restrictions also make it harder to fund free or low-cost services.
- Privacy-law compliance teams and data intermediaries They may warn that defining and verifying children’s data across AI systems is technically difficult. Companies could face uncertainty about what counts as sharing, what data must be restricted, and how to audit compliance without collecting additional identifying information.
Key Implications
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““implement child safety by design””
This would require companies to build protections into AI products from the start, rather than treating child safety as an optional add-on. In practice, that can mean safer defaults, content controls, and product features specifically meant to reduce harm to minors.
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““parental settings””
Parents would likely gain more control over how a child interacts with a covered AI system, including limits on access, content, or data use. The effectiveness of this provision would depend on how easy those controls are to find and use.
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““independent audits””
Outside review is meant to verify whether a provider’s safety and privacy practices actually match its claims. For users, that can improve accountability, but it also means companies must maintain records and systems that can withstand scrutiny.
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““prohibit child targeted advertising””
This would limit the commercial use of children’s behavior and interests for ad placement. Families could see fewer ads tailored to minors, but ad-supported services may need to change how they make money.
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““sale or sharing of children’s personal information””
This would narrow how companies can move children’s data to third parties, including advertisers and data brokers. The practical effect is less data commodification and fewer downstream uses of information tied to minors.
Latest Status
June 23, 2026
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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