Technology

This bill amends existing state consumer protection laws to add requirements for age verification and parental consent for application stores, which are digital platforms where users download software applications. The legislation would require these stores to verify the age of users and obtain parental consent from minors before allowing them to access or download applications. It also establishes penalties for businesses that fail to comply with these new verification and consent requirements. The bill does not create new consumer protection categories but rather modifies existing deceptive trade practices provisions to include digital application store compliance.

SB 205 revises drone registration fees in South Dakota, charging 1.5% of purchase price for agricultural drones and 2% for all other drones. The collected fees fund a new "drone aviation fund" administered by the Board of Technical Education to support drone training grants at state technical colleges. This bill directly affects drone owners (especially agricultural users) by changing their registration tax rates and creating a dedicated funding source for drone industry workforce development. The fund will receive all drone registration fees and interest, with expenditures requiring annual budget approval. The bill does not apply to small unmanned aircraft systems covered under federal regulations.

HB 1309 restricts online services from collecting or using personal data of users under 16 years old in South Dakota. It requires operators (like apps or websites) to delete such data within 14 days of identifying a minor user, unless parental consent is obtained for 13- to 15-year-olds or the processing is strictly necessary for essential purposes like security, legal compliance, or providing requested services. The law bans data use for advertising, marketing, or third-party sharing without consent and allows the state Attorney General to enforce it through fines up to $5,000 per violation. This directly affects minors under 16 and online platforms targeting them or collecting their data within South Dakota.

HB 1246 prohibits state agencies and local governments from signing agreements with private entities that require secrecy about data center projects. It mandates that any agreement for building, developing, or locating a data center must be treated as a public record, making its terms accessible to the public. The bill defines a data center as a facility storing, processing, or managing electronic data. This ensures transparency by preventing confidential clauses in such agreements, allowing public access to project details without secrecy restrictions.

HB 1155 amends South Dakota's investment rules to allow the state to allocate up to 10% of its investment funds into Bitcoin. The bill specifically defines Bitcoin as a digital asset meeting strict network criteria (starting from its 2009 genesis block) and requires all Bitcoin holdings to be stored through secure custody solutions or qualified custodians. It applies only to state investment funds, not individual citizens or private entities, and explicitly prohibits investments in other digital assets like cryptocurrency exchanges. The bill does not authorize new spending but modifies existing investment guidelines to include Bitcoin under defined security and limit requirements.