Sen. Hawley (R-MO) Introduces Bill Requiring Big Tech Companies Give Children's Data Back to Parents

US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the Parental Data Rights Act, new legislation that would require Big Tech companies to give parents control over their children’s data and hold accountable companies that fail to comply. Senator Hawley’s legislation follows news of a new online tool, Take it Down, that aims to give control to users to remove explicit images and videos of themselves as children from the internet. The tool is reportedly operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and funded in part by Meta. Hawley's Parental Data Rights Act goes even further and requires tech companies to give parents control of the entirety of their children’s data. The legislation would:

• Require tech companies to grant parents access to their children's data and give them the ability to delete the data, as well as notify them when accounts are created.
• Create a private right of action allowing parents to sue companies if they deny parents access to their children’s data, with enhanced penalties if they weren’t notified that their child created an account.