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To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the development of a voluntary technical standard for setting a screentime limit across certain devices, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Requires the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support development of a voluntary technical standard for setting screentime limits across devices like phones, tablets, computers, and game consoles.
- The standard must include an authentication and authorization model for minors and parents or guardians, minimize data exchange across devices, and avoid creating a centralized database of minor activity.
- Directs the NIST Director to convene stakeholders including device developers, privacy advocates, medical organizations, the Surgeon General, and international standards bodies to develop the standard.
- Requires the Director to submit annual or biennial reports to Congress through January 1, 2032 on the standard's development and adoption, along with recommendations for supporting it.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to George Whitesides’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- HARVARD UNIVERSITY $31,495
- GOOGLE LLC $27,766
- STANFORD UNIVERSITY $21,438
- CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY $19,734
- MASS GENERAL HOSPITAL $16,400
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for George Whitesides → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 14, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. · house
- Jul 14, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2026
Mr. Whitesides (for himself, Mr. Harrigan, Mrs. McClain Delaney, and Mr. Haridopolos) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
A BILL
To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the development of a voluntary technical standard for setting a screentime limit across certain devices, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Tracking Online Time And Limits Screen Time Act” or the “TOTAL Screen Time Act”.
SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY TECHNICAL STANDARD FOR SETTING A SCREENTIME LIMIT ACROSS CERTAIN DEVICES.
(a) Development.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (in this section referred to as the “Director”) shall solicit public comment and seek to convene the stakeholders specified in subsection (b) to support the development of a voluntary technical standard that satisfies the following requirements:
(1) Is for setting a screentime limit across covered devices.
(2) Includes an authentication and authorization model that is for minors and the parents or guardians of such minors and does not require a certain identity scheme.
(3) With respect to such limit, minimizes to the extent practicable the exchange of data across such devices.
(4) Does not facilitate a centralized database of information relating to the activity of such minors on such devices.
(5) Does not compromise the cybersecurity of such a device.
(b) Stakeholders Specified.—The stakeholders specified in this subsection are the following entities:
(1) The Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information.
(2) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
(3) The Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board.
(4) The Surgeon General.
(5) Developers of covered devices.
(6) Organizations that are composed of medical professionals who treat minors.
(7) Organizations that advocate for any of the following:
(A) The safety of minors.
(B) Privacy.
(8) International standards organizations.
(9) Any other entity the Director determines appropriate.
(c) Report.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter until January 1, 2032, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and publish on a publicly available website of the Institute a report regarding the development of the technical standard referred to in subsection (a) that includes information relating to the following for the annual or biennial period covered by such report:
(1) The extent to which such technical standard has been developed.
(2) The extent to which such technical standard has been adopted.
(3) Recommendations, if any, of the Director with respect to supporting such development and such adoption.
(d) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Covered device.—The term “covered device” means a device that satisfies the following requirements:
(A) Is any of the following devices:
(i) A phone.
(ii) A tablet.
(iii) A computer.
(iv) A game console.
(v) A television.
(vi) Any other device the Director determines appropriate.
(B) Is capable of the following:
(i) Playing screen media or other audiovisual content.
(ii) Enforcing a screentime limit.
(2) Minor.—The term “minor” means an individual who has not attained 18 years of age.
(3) Screentime.—The term “screentime” means time during which screen media or other audiovisual content is played on a covered device, regardless of whether such media or content, as the case may be, is so played in the foreground or the background. <all>
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