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

I'm writing to urge you to oppose the GUARD Act (S.3062 / H.R.8623). While the bill's stated goal of protecting young people from harmful AI interactions is understandable, its approach would cause far more harm than it prevents. The GUARD Act requires companies to verify every user's age before letting them interact with any AI chatbot—and blocks minors from accessing these tools entirely. The problem is that the bill's definition of "AI chatbot" is extraordinarily broad, capturing anything that generates responses not fully pre-written by developers. That sweeps in homework assistance tools, customer service bots, and countless everyday applications students and families rely on. Privacy advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy & Technology have raised serious concerns. To comply, companies would need to collect government IDs or biometric data from all users—linking offline identities to online activity and creating massive databases ripe for breaches. As the EFF notes, if you lose your driver's license, you can get a new one. You can't replace your face or fingerprint once stolen. The financial penalties—up to $100,000 per violation—mean companies will simply overblock rather than risk liability. Smaller developers won't survive the compliance costs, consolidating power among Big Tech while innovation stagnates. Most concerning, the bill undermines parental guidance by imposing a one-size-fits-all restriction rather than empowering families to make their own choices. There are better, targeted ways to address genuine AI safety concerns without sacrificing privacy and access for everyone. I ask that you vote against this legislation and support solutions that protect young people without compromising fundamental civil liberties. Thank you for your consideration.