Cybersecurity Policy Report, N.J. Transition Team Recommends Kids’ Online Privacy, Safety Actions, (Feb 19, 2026)

By Tony Foley

The Kids’ Mental Health and Online Safety Action Team, a transition team organized by recently elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D.), has issued a report making a variety of recommendations designed to encourage the development of children’s online safety and privacy protections, including an age-appropriate design code.

In addition to suggestions regarding children’s online safety outside the context of privacy concerns, including prohibitions on addictive features, restrictions on AI chatbots, warning labels noting the links between social media and mental health harms for children, and new models for student mental health, the report makes specific recommendations regarding the following privacy issues:

Implementation of an Age-Appropriate Design Code drawn on similar provisions already enacted in Maryland, Nebraska, and Vermont, to provide safety-by-design and privacy-by-default protections for kids and teens; and

Empowering New Jersey residents to monitor and delete personal data collected by data brokers, modeled after California’s DELETE Act, to ensure that data collected about children and teens are not associated with them for life.

The report further maintains that the state should initiate a public awareness campaign to bring together public health experts, public interest technology researchers, parents, and the private sector to share data and expertise to develop recommendations for promoting safer online experiences. The Action Team acknowledged that its recommendations must fit into the context of other recommendations made by separate transition teams and prioritized accordingly, and that they will need to be considered in light of a challenging budget landscape, particularly given the impact of impending federal funding cuts.

News: StateLegislation DataPrivacy