1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I'm writing to ask you to oppose the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act when it reaches the Senate floor. I understand the impulse behind this bill — protecting kids online matters to me too. But the package as drafted creates serious problems that organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy & Technology, and dozens of other groups laid out in letters to Congress. First, buried inside the bill are provisions that would push online services to verify the ages of all users — not just children. That means every American could be asked to hand over identifying documents just to browse. Studies of similar laws in other countries show these systems collect more personal data than they protect, creating surveillance infrastructure ripe for breaches. Second, the bill's design mandates would force platforms to make government-directed moderation choices about lawful speech, chilling the online speech of minors and adults alike. It would even reach into rules about private and encrypted communications — a direct threat to the privacy of ordinary families' messages. Third, its COPPA revisions raise the covered age from 13 to 16 while creating compliance questions nobody can realistically answer. How does a site "not collect personal information" on users whose ages it must determine? None of this makes kids meaningfully safer. It just builds surveillance infrastructure that will outlast this bill's good intentions. Please oppose the KIDS Act, or at minimum insist on changes that protect children without undermining the privacy and free expression of everyone else. I'd appreciate hearing your position on this legislation.