Congress targets underage betting with facial age estimation bill Online sportsbooks and prediction markets would have to analyze a user’s face to estimate whether the person is old enough to gamble under bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House. The Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act would require an age check either when a user logs into a platform or before the user places a wager or trades an event contract. The measure is aimed at children who gain access to accounts belonging to parents, siblings, or other adults after those accounts have already passed conventional identity checks. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, introduced the bill with eight cosponsors, including Republican Reps. Jeff Van Drew, Nick LaLota, and Bruce Westerman. Democratic cosponsors are Kristen McDonald Rivet, Jimmy Panetta, Darren Soto, Tom Suozzi, and Ritchie Torres. In May, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform opened an inquiry into Polymarket and Kalshi, pressing the two prediction market companies for records on identity verification, geographic restrictions, suspicious trading, and the handling of markets tied to military operations, geopolitical events, and political contests. Despite the name of the new legislation, the technology described by Gottheimer’s office is more accurately called facial age estimation than facial recognition. The proposed system would examine facial structure and patterns to estimate the user’s age. Gottheimer’s office said the technology would not store the person’s identity or personal biometric information. The distinction matters because online sportsbooks already verify information about an account holder and use geolocation systems to determine whether a wager is being placed in a jurisdiction where the platform may operate. Those controls do not necessarily establish that the person holding the phone during a later session is the adult who opened the account. Gottheimer said a child can therefore enter a