Tennessee Senate Bill 1792

Overview

Tennessee Senate Bill 1792 (SB 1792), also known as the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, establishes age verification requirements for access to websites containing content harmful to minors. The law mandates that commercial entities publishing or distributing such content implement reasonable age verification methods to prevent minors from gaining access.

This legislation is designed to enhance online child protection by ensuring businesses take responsibility for restricting access to content deemed inappropriate for minors.

Regulation Summary

Timeline

April 24, 2024 – Tennessee Senate Bill 1792 was passed.
May 22, 2024 – Tennessee Governor signed the bill into law.
January 1, 2025 – The law goes into effect, requiring all applicable websites to comply with age verification mandates.

What Businesses Are Affected

Commercial entities that publish or distribute websites containing a substantial portion of content harmful to minors.
Businesses providing online services with explicit material.
Third-party age verification providers ensuring compliance with the Act.

Exemptions

News websites and public interest broadcasts.
Cloud service providers that do not create or publish restricted content.
Internet service providers and search engines that do not host content but only facilitate access.

Responsibilities for Businesses

Implement a Reasonable Age Verification Method, such as:
- Photo ID matching – Verification using a live photo matched against a valid government-issued ID.
- Independent third-party age verification services using official databases.
- Transactional data verification – Verification through mortgage, education, or employment records.
Ensure secure data handling by preventing retention of personally identifiable information beyond verification.
Restrict access to minors by blocking entry to age-restricted content.
Retain anonymized verification data for at least seven years to demonstrate compliance, including architectural diagrams illustrating the verification method and records demonstrating verification volume consistency.
Limit age-verified sessions to 60 minutes before requiring re-verification.

Specific Responsibilities for Website Owners

Verify user age before granting access to restricted content.
Website owners must implement reasonable age verification methods if the website content is harmful to minors.
Ensure compliance with data privacy laws by not storing personally identifiable verification data.
Use commercially reasonable security measures to protect user information, aligning with accepted industry standards.

Additional Requirements

Age verification should be only valid for 60 minutes.
Websites must clearly disclose their age verification policies.
Age verification providers must comply with security and data protection standards.
Businesses must implement systems that prevent circumvention of age verification methods.

Individual Rights

Right to Data Protection: Individuals’ personal information used for age verification must be protected and not retained beyond verification.
Right to Data Deletion: Users can request the deletion of personal data used for age verification after the process is completed.
Parental Legal Action: Parents or guardians have the right to take legal action if a minor accesses restricted content due to non-compliance with age verification requirements.
Right to Seek Damages: Individuals may seek damages if their verification data is improperly stored or mishandled.

Enforcement

Enforced by the Tennessee Attorney General.
Violations are classified as a Class C felony.
Individuals or businesses found in violation may be subject to lawsuits filed by parents or guardians of affected minors.
Penalties for violations are determined by the courts, including potential fines and imprisonment based on the severity of non-compliance.
Websites found in violation may be subject to legal injunctions, preventing their operation in Tennessee.