- Utah’s governor signed a bill that requires app stores to verify a users’ age before they can download certain apps, like Instagram, TikTok and X. Parental approval will be required for those under 18.
- This is the first law requiring app stores to make the verification, rather than individual apps.
- Digital rights groups are raising concerns over how the data will be stored and protected.
Full Story
Utah just became the first state in the nation to require app stores to verify a user’s age before they can download certain apps.
What’s mandated by the new law?
Gov. Spencer Cox, R, signed the App Store Accountability Act, which will force Apple and Google to get age verification or parental permission for those under 18 before they can download certain apps like Instagram, Snapchat and X.
The bill’s sponsors said it was designed to protect children, who may not understand an app’s terms of service and therefore can’t agree to them.
What makes it unique?
This is the first law to put the responsibility of age verification on app stores rather than on the individual apps themselves.
Under the new law, Apple and Google will have to do age checks when someone makes a new app store account in Utah.
If someone younger than 18 opens an account, it’ll be linked to a parent’s account, or the companies will request additional documentation.
Parents will also have to give consent for in-app purchases under the new law.
Will more states follow?
While Utah’s law is the first of its kind, it’s likely not the last.
At least two other states — South Carolina and California — already have similar proposals moving through their legislatures.
What concerns does the law raise?
Digital rights groups have raised concerns about how the data used for age verification will be stored and protected. That’s a concern that’s been raised in similar cases where states have enacted laws requiring pornographic websites to verify users’ age.
There’s also the possibility it won’t work.
A recent study out of Stanford University found states that enacted age verification laws saw an increase in searches for virtual private network (VPN) services.
VPNs can mask a user’s location, creating a way around age verification laws.
