Maryland Age Appropriate Design Code

Introduced by Delegates Jared Solomon and C.T. Wilson and Senators Chris West and Benjamin Kramer, the bipartisan Maryland Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC) is a privacy framework that brings a product safety approach to the internet ensuring that, like cribs and seatbelts, the online products our children and teens use every day are safe by design.

Inspired by successful AADC legislation in the United Kingdom and California, the Maryland AADC is a chance for Maryland to lead the nation in protecting kids online by design and by default. The AADC would require online platforms likely accessed by kids under the age of 18 in Maryland to meet key design standards to protect their safety and privacy including:

• Requiring online platforms that children can access to be designed by default for their protection.
• Maintaining a high level of privacy settings by default.
• Providing easily accessible reporting tools for privacy and inappropriate behavior concerns.
• Prohibiting covered platforms from collecting and retaining any personal information for users under age 18 that is unnecessary for the provided service.