Indiana Children's Privacy Laws (2026)

House Enrolled Act 1408 (2026) — Restricting Minor Access to Social Media · HB 1408 / HEA 1408 (2026)

Enacted — not yet effective — Signed into law; its effective date is still in the future. · Social media · effective 2027-01-01 · binds operators, platforms

Ages: under 16

Requires: Covered large social media platforms (>=$1B global revenue, algorithmic feeds/infinite-scroll/autoplay, significant teen usage) must use commercially reasonable means to determine whether an account requester is an Indiana resident under 16 and obtain verifiable parental consent before account creation. Under-16 accounts get locked safety settings (restricted DMs, no search visibility, no algorithmic recommendations, no behavior-based ads, addictive features disabled); platforms must provide a parallel parent/monitoring account and re-verify age after usage thresholds until an account is held continuously for 10 years. Enforced by the AG as a deceptive act under the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.

Litigation: No suit filed / no injunction as of 2026-06-27; First Amendment challenge widely anticipated once effective, given courts blocking comparable AR, OH, CA, FL, GA social media laws.

Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act — minors' provisions · SB 5 (2023)

In force — Effective and enforceable today. · Privacy law (minors) · effective 2026-01-01 · binds operators

Ages: Known children under 13

Requires: The personal data of a consumer the controller actually knows to be a child (under 13) is classified as sensitive data, so the controller must obtain opt-in consent before processing it. Such known-child data must be processed in accordance with the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA); COPPA-compliant parental consent satisfies the statute's consent requirement. The Act sets no separate heightened opt-in band for teens aged 13-17 (it follows the Virginia VCDPA model).