Connect x Protect believes young people deserve age-appropriate online spaces where they can connect safely while protecting their privacy. This campaign amplifies the voices of parents and kids to demand policymakers find solutions that protect kids online in a way that preserves privacy and makes the internet safer for everyone.
Protect Teens. Preserve Privacy.
Parents shouldn’t have to choose between online safety and privacy.
Kids deserve both.
- We advocate for a safer internet for kids — one where young people can benefit from the connected world without sacrificing their privacy or the security of their personal data.
- We push back on flawed policies that present a false choice between safety and privacy and rely on ineffective measures like age-verification checks that expose sensitive data and ignore the risks kids encounter on web browsers, consoles, and desktops.
- We believe that we can keep kids connected and protected — we educate and empower families by translating the complicated proposals before policymakers into clear, transparent guidance and advocate for better solutions that include privacy and security at their core.
- We seek a practical path — a safer digital ecosystem with shared responsibility and smarter solutions. Through research, collaboration, and clear communication, we help families and policymakers understand what effective online safety looks like — without sacrificing kidsʼ privacy, security, or well-being.
What We're Reading
- California Steps Back From Dangerous Expansion of its Age-Gating LawThe California legislature has stepped back from a plan that would have expanded its age-gating law, removing language that could have compounded serious threats to users’ speech, privacy and security just to browse the internet. A.B. 1856, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, will now move forward through the legislature without its most problematic pieces.
- Canada’s Social Media Ban: Age Verification Required for All Adult UsersCanada's federal government has proposed banning everyone under 16 from social media — but legal experts say the bill's most significant privacy impact falls on tens of millions of Canadian adults who never consented to handing their identity documents to a third-party verification company. Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, is now at second reading in the House of Commons as Parliament sits in summer recess, with debate set to resume in September.
- App Store Freedom Act Proponents, Meet Matt GutmanRumors suggest Congress may revive the App Store Freedom Act, mandating dominant app marketplaces like Apple and Google allow third-party app stores and sideloading. Critics argue this legislation is anti-consumer and dangerous, highlighting the increasing sophistication of scammers who now employ AI for tactics like voice cloning to bypass security.
- Protecting Kids Online: Government Mandates vs. Market SolutionsAs kids’ online safety remains a priority for policymakers and parents alike, lawmakers have introduced a number of legislative proposals that would change standards for how much digital platforms need to know about the age of users.
Updates
- When Age Verification Goes WrongHow Some Bills Could Backfire for Real Families – Everyone agrees: kids and teens deserve safer online spaces. But some age verification proposals could create new risks while promising protection.
- Virtual Panel on Digital SafetyEpisode 1 (Digital Safety): Connect x Protect executive director Terry Samuel interviews Shane Tews of the American Enterprise Institute, Ben Gillenwater, The Family IT Guy and Dr. Joseph South, an education innovation specialist at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education.
- Connect x Protect Launches Campaign to Protect Kids and Teens Online In South CarolinaCampaign comprised of public, private and nonprofit sectors will educate on importance of kids safety and security across the country
The internet is where we live much of our lives.
For kids and teens, it is how they learn and grow, communicate and build community.They deserve an internet that is as safe as it is exciting.
