Jon Husted’s AI age verification bill is dangerous for children’s privacy

In the formulation of Sir William Blackstone, the legal colossus of 18th-century England and 19th-century America, a judge investigating the meaning of a statute must begin by undertaking to understand the status quo ante. One of the first tasks, according to Blackstone, was to discover what deficiency in the law the legislator had sought to rectify. 

This formulation, a maxim of traditional Anglo-American jurisprudence, points to another investigation: the legislator’s investigation of a perceived problem in his search for a solution. However, this necessary investigation is often forgone in fits of regulatory fervor and do-gooderism — as the Children Harmed by AI Technology Act, introduced recently by Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), demonstrates.

It is implicit that the legislator bears a duty to endeavor to understand the illness before prescribing a remedy.

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