U.S. Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) on July 14 cosponsored a bipartisan bill aimed at making it easier for parents to manage their children’s screen time across multiple devices by directing the federal government to develop a voluntary technical standard for the technology industry.
“Parents know exactly how frustrating this is. You can set limits on your child’s phone, but then they move to a tablet, a gaming console, or the TV and you’re right back where you started,” Rep. Harrigan said. “The technology already exists to help families manage screen time, it just doesn’t work together.”
The congressman introduced the Tracking Online Time And Limits (TOTAL) Screen Time Act, H.R. 9692, alongside bill sponsor U.S. Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA) to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop the voluntary technical standard so parents could set a single screen time limit across connected devices.
According to the lawmakers, H.R. 9692 would not create new federal regulations. Instead, it would bring together technology companies, child safety advocates, medical professionals, privacy experts, and standards organizations to develop a cross-platform standard designed to work across different devices while protecting user privacy and limiting unnecessary data sharing.
“This bill brings everyone to the table to develop one voluntary standard that gives parents a simple, consistent way to manage screen time across devices without sacrificing privacy or creating another government mandate,” Rep. Harrigan added.
The voluntary technical standard would be required to set a screen time limit across covered devices; would include an authentication and authorization model that is for minors and the parents or guardians of such minors and would not require a certain identity scheme; would minimize the exchange of data across devices; would not facilitate a centralized database of information relating to the activity of minors on these devices; and would not compromise the cybersecurity of a device, according to the bill’s text.
H.R. 9692 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.