United States of America: Amended Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE Act/ HB 18) including data protection regulation

On 18 April 2023, the Texas House of Representatives amended the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE Act/ HB 18) including data protection regulation. The amended version of the Bill removed the prohibition on collecting minors' data without parental consent, replacing it with a general prohibition on entering into agreements with minors. Instead, regarding data protection specifically, the amended Bill would require digital service providers to enable parents, at the point of account creation for a minor, to permanently enable certain privacy settings and prevent the collection of certain types of information. Further, digital service providers would be required to give parents access to and certain user rights in regard to minors' information. Finally, a digital service provider may not limit or discontinue a digital service provided to a minor because the minor or minor ’s parent or guardian withholds or withdraws consent to the collection or processing of any personal identifying information not required to provide the digital service.