A new piece of legislation, the App Store Accountability Act, proposed by two Republican lawmakers, may soon require users to verify their age before accessing major app stores like Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. The need for this law stems from concerns regarding the protection of young users online, as it aims to mandate age verification for anyone downloading apps. This bill is rooted in a similar law that was recently passed in Utah.
If enacted, it would take effect a year after being signed into law by the president. The legislation has sparked debate about its constitutionality and raises questions about how individuals under the age of 18 would provide valid identification since many do not possess government-issued IDs. The legislation calls for app stores with at least five million users to collect age information from users registering for accounts.
Once this data is obtained, they are required to relay a user’s age category to app developers. Users would be classified into four groups: young children (under 13), children (ages 13-15), teenagers (ages 16-17), and adults (18 and older). Social media companies are in favor of this legislation because it places the responsibility of age verification on app stores rather than individual apps.
Companies such as Snap, X, and Meta argue that parents desire a centralized method to verify their children’s ages when downloading apps. However, Apple has raised concerns that this law might compromise user privacy by requiring all app users to submit sensitive personal information, even if they are not using age-restricted apps. If the bill is ultimately approved, access to certain app stores may hinge on users providing government-issued IDs or undergoing facial recognition scans.