Starting January 1, 2028, social media apps in Connecticut will have to check how old you are before they show you a personalized feed. If the app decides you're a minor, it needs a parent or guardian to say yes first. Governor Ned Lamont signed the rules into law as part of a youth online safety package.
The rules live in Public Act No. 26-15, and the law is vague on how the check should actually work. It just says apps have to use methods that are reasonable and doable, and it doesn't name a single tool. Critics of age-check laws warn that in practice that can mean uploading an ID, scanning your face, or using a service that guesses your age from a selfie.
What the law actually requires
Three things stand out. First, the age check itself, run before a minor can reach one of these feeds. Second, parental permission. If the user is a minor, the company has to get a parent or guardian's okay before unlocking that feed. Third, a notification curfew. The apps cannot send minors notifications between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Eastern.
On privacy, the law says any information an app collects to check your age or get a parent's okay has to be deleted right after the attempt, unless keeping it is needed to follow federal or Connecticut law. How a regulator would confirm that the data is truly gone isn't spelled out.
The catch nobody likes
Critics warn the law could backfire. Age-check laws can push apps to collect age information from adults too, not just minors. The stated goal is protecting kids, but the practical effect could be more age or identity data flowing through these checks, depending on how apps build them.
Real verification can also go wrong. On Reddit, a PlayStation user said a Yoti age check failed after repeated face and ID scans, and that the messaging referred the case to authorities. That's a different company and a different system, but the report shows one way these checks can misfire.
If you live in Connecticut, expect changes in 2028. These apps may ask Connecticut users for age information before turning on certain personalized feeds, depending on how they build the checks. Minors will need a parent in the loop. Adults may run into age checks too, but the law doesn't require any specific way to prove it.
