Vermont committee reviews 'Kids Code' bill that would require online platforms to set stronger defaults for minors

Rick Segal, Legislative Counsel, walked the Vermont House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development through draft language of S.69, the Vermont Age Appropriate Design Code Act — commonly called the "Kids Code" — during a May 20, 2025 committee meeting. The committee did not vote on the bill.

The bill would apply to defined "covered businesses" and, in some provisions, to processors that handle personal data. "The bill only applies to covered businesses and processors," Segal said, describing limits in the draft intended to narrow which entities must comply. Committee members discussed definitions, exclusions, rulemaking timelines and enforcement authority.

Committee members said the bill aims to limit design features and data practices that could cause "reasonably foreseeable emotional distress" or compulsive use by covered minors and to restrict collection, sale, sharing and retention of minors' personal data beyond what is strictly necessary to provide a service the minor is "actively and knowingly engaged" with. Among the draft's required protections are default privacy settings for covered minors, a prominent tool to request…