US bill proposes facial recognition for sportsbooks and prediction markets

The Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act would require sports betting platforms to analyse facial structure and patterns to estimate age.

US – Rep. Josh Gottheimer has introduced bipartisan legislation that would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to use facial recognition technology to verify a user’s age before they can place a bet or trade. The Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act would mandate that platforms analyse facial structure and patterns to estimate age either at login or prior to a wager.

The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Jeff Van Drew, Nick LaLota, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Jimmy Panetta, Darren Soto, Tom Suozzi, Ritchie Torres and Bruce Westerman. It has the support of the parents’ advocacy group ParentsRISE.

The legislation would impose a uniform federal standard on platforms that currently rely primarily on initial know-your-customer checks. Most regulated sportsbooks set a minimum age of 21, while prediction markets generally allow trading from age 18.

Gottheimer, D-N.J., said: “We’re asking our kids to self-police their way past a system built entirely on the honour code. A kid can log into a parent’s, an older sibling’s, or a friend’s account and place a bet with no verification at all. Nobody checks. That’s it. That’s the whole system. We wouldn’t accept that at a casino in Las Vegas. We shouldn’t accept it on the phone in our kid’s back pocket.”

Gottheimer’s office cited Common Sense Media research showing that 36% of boys ages 11 to 17 gambled in the past year. Tennessee sportsbooks flagged more than 400 underage accounts in 2024, up from roughly 100 the previous year. Iowa authorities have received more than 80 reports of underage betting. It says the technology would not store a user’s identity or personal biometric data.

ParentsRISE said the measure would help protect against “the harms of predatory betting apps and prediction markets to children.”