ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 4015

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 8, 2026

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably an Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill No. 4015.

      This committee substitute, which is designated as the “New Jersey Kids Code Act” and is to be cited as the “New Jersey Age-Appropriate Design Code,” requires a covered online service provider, as defined in the substitute, to implement certain measures to protect minors’ online privacy.  Under the substitute, a covered online service provider is required to provide a covered child or covered minor, as those terms are defined in the substitute, with default settings for safeguards at the option or level that provides the highest protection available for the safety of the covered child or covered minor, and is prohibited from reducing or prompting a covered child or covered minor to reduce certain privacy settings.  The substitute also creates requirements and prohibitions concerning the collection and use of a covered child’s or covered minor’s personal data.

      The substitute requires a covered online service provider to establish a prominent and accessible user interface to enable a covered child, covered minor, and the parent of a covered child or covered minor to report harms experienced by the covered child or covered minor on the online service, and also establishes certain prohibitions for a covered online service provider concerning covered children and covered minors, including, but not limited to, prohibiting a covered online service provider from facilitating targeted advertising for certain products to a covered child or covered minor, sending notifications to covered children or covered minors at certain specified times, and using dark patterns.

      Additionally, the substitute requires a covered online service provider to provide a prominent and accessible mechanism for a covered child or covered minor to request that the covered child’s or covered minor’s account be unpublished or permanently deleted, and to unpublish or permanently delete a covered child’s or covered minor’s account not later than 10 business days after submission of the request.  The substitute also requires certain covered online service providers to establish a prominent and accessible user interface to enable a covered child, covered minor, and the parent of a covered child or covered minor to customize the types of media recommended to or blocked by the covered child or covered minor.

      The substitute requires a covered online service provider to provide a prominent and constant real-time signal to a covered child or covered minor when precise geolocation information is being collected or used or the online activity of that covered child or covered minor is being monitored by any individual, including a parent of the covered child or covered minor.  The substitute also requires a covered online service provider to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the covered online service provider’s use of a covered child’s or covered minor’s personal data and the design of a covered design feature do not result in compulsive use in a covered child or covered minor.

      The substitute provides that a violation of the provisions of the bill constitutes an unlawful practice under the New Jersey consumer fraud act.  The substitute also provides that a covered child or covered minor that is injured by a violation of the provisions of the substitute may bring a civil action against a covered online service provider and that the Attorney General or the parent of a covered child or covered minor that is injured by a violation of the provisions of the substitute may bring a civil action on behalf of the covered child or covered minor and against the covered online service provider.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill has not been certified for a fiscal note.