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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsOhio’s internet age-verification law, Ohio Revised Code §§ 1349.10 and 1349.101, took effect September 30, 2025. It requires certain organizations offering online material or performances that are obscene or harmful to juveniles to verify users are at least 18, check whether users are in Ohio, and meet specific privacy and data-deletion rules. It does not apply to every website or online service; coverage depends on the statute’s business-purpose test and its listed exemptions.
Who Ohio’s age-verification law covers
Section 1349.10 applies to an “organization” that is a commercial establishment and, for consideration, has a significant or substantial business purpose involving the online sale, delivery, furnishing, dissemination, provision, exhibition, or presentation of material or a performance that is obscene or harmful to juveniles. The statute says that an establishment is not exempt merely because it also has other principal business purposes. The relevant question is whether the statutory test applies to the establishment’s business, not simply whether it operates a website or serves adults.
The law’s stated subject is material or performances that meet those legal descriptions. It should not be read as a rule covering all adult-content sites, general websites, or online platforms without regard to the statutory test.
What age verification the law requires
A covered organization must use reasonable age-verification methods to verify that people trying to access the specified material or performance are at least 18. It must also verify the age of people creating an account or subscription and reverify those accounts every two years. The verification requirement is therefore tied both to access and to account or subscription creation.
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Methods permitted by the statute
Section 1349.10 defines reasonable age-verification methods to include a commercial age-verification system using photo identification or public or private transactional data. It also includes third-party and governmental databases that use such a commercial system. The statute defines identifying information as photo identification or public or private transactional data. Transactional data can include records documenting an exchange, agreement, or transfer, including mortgage, educational, and employment records.
Government-issued photo ID is not the only method described in the statute. Which method a covered organization uses depends on its system and circumstances; the statute’s examples do not amount to an endorsement of any particular vendor.
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How the Ohio location check works
Covered organizations must use a geofence system maintained and monitored by a licensed location-based technology provider to dynamically monitor the location of people trying to access the material or create an account or subscription. The provider conducts the geolocation check. If it determines that a person is in Ohio, the organization must block access until that person’s age has been verified through a reasonable method. The organization must also have a mechanism to notify people when a geolocation check fails.
Privacy, deletion, and data-handling duties
The statute distinguishes information collected to verify age from information retained for account access and billing. The rules for those categories are not identical.
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Information collected for age verification
For account or subscription verification, the organization must immediately delete information gathered for age verification once verification is complete, subject to the statute’s listed exceptions for account-access and billing information. Collected information may not be transferred except for age-verification purposes. A recipient of information for that purpose must immediately delete information gathered for verification when the process is complete.
Account and billing information
Covered organizations must maintain a data-privacy policy that complies with federal and state law and handle data in a reasonably secure manner. If an account holder or subscriber requests deletion, data maintained for account access and billing must be deleted immediately. Account-creation and billing information must also be deleted after two years unless the subscription is renewed.
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Services and roles the statute exempts
Section 1349.10 lists exemptions for:
- People gathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, or disseminating information to the general public while employed by or contracted with specified news or similar media;
- Interactive computer services;
- Mobile services;
- Internet providers;
- Cable service providers;
- Direct-to-home satellite services;
- Video service providers; and
- Cloud service providers.
Whether an exemption applies depends on the entity’s role and the statutory wording. A business should not assume that it is exempt solely because it performs one of these functions or operates alongside an exempt service.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How enforcement works
Under § 1349.101, the Ohio Attorney General may bring a civil action against a covered organization for specified age-verification or privacy violations when a minor gains access to the covered material or performance as a result. Before an enforcement action, the Attorney General must give written notice identifying and explaining each alleged violation.
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Generally, an action may not begin if the organization, within 45 days after the notice is sent, cures the listed violations and provides a written statement that they have been cured and will not recur. The statute includes exceptions, including specified failures to respond or continued noncompliance, and allows the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief. The exact effect of those provisions depends on the alleged violation and circumstances.
What has been reported about compliance
In an October 2025 announcement, the Ohio Attorney General said an agency review found that 1 of 20 top pornography websites was complying with the recently enacted law. That is the Attorney General’s dated agency review, not an independently verified audit or an estimate of statewide compliance in 2026. It does not establish whether any particular website currently complies or violates the law.
Is the law currently blocked or challenged?
The current court status of §§ 1349.10 and 1349.101 is not established here. Do not confuse litigation over Ohio’s separate Social Media Parental Notification Act with a ruling on this internet age-verification law. The sections took effect September 30, 2025, but whether a court has since enjoined or otherwise ruled on them requires checking current court dockets and official orders specific to these provisions.
Quick Recap
Primary sources
- Ohio Revised Code § 1349.10 (statutory text).
- Ohio Revised Code § 1349.101 (enforcement).
- Ohio Attorney General, “Yost Warns Pornography Sites of Potential Lawsuits Over Violations of Age-Verification Law,” October 2025.
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