On June 12, 2025, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed the Vermont Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (AADC), which will impose a range of obligations on businesses that offer online products, services, or features likely to be accessed by children under 18. The Act is part of a wave of AADC-style children’s online safety legislation proliferating across states, including in California and Maryland.
Vermont’s AADC covers businesses operating in Vermont that: (1) conduct business in Vermont; (2) generate a majority of their annual revenue from online services; (3) collect consumers’ personal data or have consumers personal data collected by processors; (4) control personal data processing; and (5) whose online products, services, or features are “reasonably likely to be accessed” by a minor, as defined by the Act.
The Act imposes several requirements on covered businesses, including: (1) a “minimum duty of care” to process minors’ data in a manner that will not cause a defined set of harms to the minor; (2) required default privacy settings and tools designed to protect minors; (3) transparency requirements regarding the display of businesses’ privacy policies, terms of service, community standards, and description of features; (4) restrictions on the collection, sale, sharing, and retention of a minor’s personal data; and (5) privacy protections for age assurance data.
The Act will be enforced by the Attorney General under Vermont’s consumer fraud act, and its requirements are set to take effect on July 1, 2027, except for the Attorney General’s rulemaking authority that takes effect on July 1 of this year.
In signing the bill, Governor Scott observed that “[w]ith ongoing lawsuits in other states, I recognize this new law will likely face a legal challenge. But I’m hopeful with the enactment of this law delayed until January 1, 2027, it will allow enough time to provide clarity and change the law if necessary.”1
1/ Press Release, State of Vermont, Office of Governor Phil Scott, Action Taken by Governor Phil Scott on Legislation – June 12, 2025 (Jun. 12, 2025), https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/action-taken-governor-phil-scott-legislation-june-12-2025.
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