EPIC Endorses Youth AI Privacy Act to Protect Minors from Chatbot Harms

On March 25, Senator Ed Markey introduced the Youth AI Privacy Act, which would require AI companies to implement important privacy and safety guardrails on chatbots.

The Youth AI Privacy Act would ban companies from:

• designing chatbots to include manipulative, engagement-maximizing features;
• using minors’ personal data to train chatbots;
• advertising to minors in chatbots;
• profiling minors; and
• using minors’ personal data for anything other than responding directly to the minor or addressing safety issues.

EPIC endorsed this legislation and urges Congress to act quickly to rein in chatbots, which are causing devastating harms.

In December, EPIC published the People-First Chatbot Bill, model legislation that includes many privacy and safety provisions similar to those in the Youth AI Privacy Act. EPIC has long advocated for greater safety, privacy, transparency, and accountability from AI companies.