Florida is ushering in a new era of social media regulation, and if you’re a parent, grandparent, or guardian, you need to know what’s changing. On this episode of Tech Talk with Refresh Computers, Greg Rhodes and technician Adam Littlefield break down the state’s new social media age restrictions, explain the privacy tradeoffs of age verification, and share practical tips on e-waste recycling, device storage, and three email features you probably didn’t know you had.

Listen to the Episode

What Florida’s New Social Media Law Actually Means

Let’s cut through the headlines and get to the details. Florida’s law draws a clear line based on age:

Under 14 years old: No account on any covered social media platform. Period. Not even with a parent’s permission.
14 and 15 years old: An account is allowed, but only with verified parental or guardian consent.

This law was originally passed in 2024 but was blocked during later approval stages. An appeals court has since cleared the way for enforcement, and the state has been pushing hard to make it stick. The reasoning? Social media has fundamentally changed how young people process reality, often glamorizing unrealistic lifestyles that kids don’t yet have the maturity to see through.

The “Teeth” Behind the Law

Rules are meaningless without enforcement, and this law has real consequences — but they’re aimed at the platforms, not at parents or kids. Social media companies that knowingly or recklessly violate the law face civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation. That financial pressure gives platforms a strong incentive to build proper age verification and consent systems.

Additionally, if a parent discovers their child has an unauthorized account, the platform must terminate that account when the parent requests it. The child cannot override that decision. The legal guardian’s word is final.

The fines target the platforms — not families. A $50,000-per-violation penalty gives social media companies a very strong reason to enforce these age rules.

Age Verification and Your Privacy

Here’s where things get tricky. To verify a user’s age, platforms may ask for an ID upload, a face scan, or use AI-based age estimation. That raises an important question: what happens to that data?

Many services say they don’t store your verification data, and federal regulators have issued guidance this year telling platforms to delete age-check data immediately after verification. So far, there haven’t been any major data leaks related to this process — but as Adam pointed out on the show, “We really don’t know what they’re doing behind closed doors.”

Watch Out for Scams Tied to These New Rules

Every time a new law or regulation rolls out, scammers find a way to exploit it. Expect to see fake texts, emails, and phone calls claiming your account will be deactivated unless you send a photo of your ID — or worse, your ID alongside your Social Security card.

Only ever verify your age inside the official app or on the platform’s real website. Never respond to a text, email, or phone call that pressures you to send sensitive documents through a link.

What to Do with That Drawer of Dead Electronics

We’ve all got one — a drawer, a box, or a closet full of old phones, tablets, cables, and laptops that died years ago. But tossing them in the trash isn’t just wasteful; it’s potentially hazardous. Electronics contain toxic materials that can leach into the environment as they break down in a landfill, and the plastic alone takes thousands of years to decompose.

Responsible electronics recycling keeps those materials out of landfills and puts usable components back into the supply chain — something that’s especially important right now given ongoing hardware shortages driven by AI expansion.

Even dead devices still contain your personal data. Before recycling, donating, or reselling, make sure the drives are securely wiped. Refresh Computers offers free electronics recycling with a confirmed DOD-level data wipe at no cost.

If you plan to sell or donate a device yourself, at minimum perform a factory reset. If you’re unsure whether the reset is thorough enough — especially on older devices — bring it by Refresh Computers or call their free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200.

“Storage Almost Full” — What It Really Means

That dreaded notification can mean two very different things, and most people never learn the distinction:

Device storage: The physical drive inside your phone, tablet, or computer is full. Think of it like a warehouse — once it’s packed, nothing else fits.
Cloud storage: Your online storage through Apple iCloud, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive is full. This can stop email from arriving, prevent photo backups, and cause other headaches.

Many people don’t realize that their Gmail, iCloud email, or Outlook email shares space with their cloud storage. So 80,000 unread emails with attachments? That’s eating into the same storage bucket as your photo backups.

The Biggest Space Hog: Video

Modern smartphones can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second. That’s essentially taking a 4K photo 60 times per second. A single one-minute video can eat up roughly a gigabyte of storage. On a 256GB phone — the current standard — that’s only about 250 one-minute videos before you’re completely full.

How to Check Your Storage

iPhone: Settings → General → iPhone Storage (for device). Settings → tap your name → iCloud (for cloud).
Android: Settings → Storage (for device). Open the Google Drive app or visit one.google.com (for cloud).
Windows: Settings → System → Storage (shows device and OneDrive breakdown).

The “Recently Deleted” Trap

Here’s a sneaky one: when you delete photos and videos from your phone, they don’t actually disappear right away. They move to a “Recently Deleted” folder where they sit for 30 days. If you’ve gone on a deletion spree and your storage still says full, check that folder and empty it — it’s basically a recycling bin on your phone.

Deleted photos and videos sit in your “Recently Deleted” folder for 30 days before they’re truly removed. Empty that folder to actually reclaim your storage space.

Three Email Features You Didn’t Know You Had

These three buttons are built into most modern email apps — Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail — and they can save you from embarrassment, improve your timing, and keep important messages from slipping through the cracks.

Undo Send: Right after you hit send, a small “Undo” button appears for a few seconds. Tap it to pull the email back before it’s delivered. Perfect for catching typos, wrong links, or that attachment you forgot to include.
Schedule Send: Instead of hitting send, click the small arrow next to it and choose a specific date and time for delivery. Great for writing emails at odd hours without disturbing the recipient — and you can go back and edit before it sends.
Snooze: Got an email you can’t respond to right now? Snooze it, and it’ll pop back to the top of your inbox at the time you choose, complete with a fresh notification so you don’t forget.

Need Help? Refresh Computers Has Your Back

Whether you need help understanding what’s eating up your storage, want to safely recycle old electronics, or have questions about keeping your family safe online, the team at Refresh Computers is here for you. Call the free tech support hotline at 407-478-8200, visit the store in Longwood at 820 E. State Road 434 (Monday–Saturday, 9 AM–7 PM), or browse the latest inventory and past podcast episodes at refreshcomputers.net. From storage warnings to social media safety, Refresh Computers makes tech make sense.

Florida’s New Social Media Rules for Kids: What Parents Need to Know