With the recent enactment of the App Store Accountability Act, Apple and Google are now legally obligated to verify the ages of users accessing their app stores in Utah. The law goes into effect on May 7, providing a brief window for these tech companies to comply.
Despite both companies expressing opposition to the new law, it appears that similar regulations are likely to emerge in at least eight more states across the United States.
The Age Verification Challenge
This ongoing issue has positioned Apple and Google at odds with social media firms. Many social media platforms mandate a minimum age of 13 for users, yet they face criticism for insufficient age verification measures during the account creation process.
In 2023, Meta began asserting that app stores are in a more advantageous position to implement age verification; Zuckerberg reaffirmed this stance last year. An increasing number of state legislatures seem to concur, with at least nine currently drafting legislation to shift the responsibility to app stores.
Utah’s Groundbreaking Law
According to Engadget, Utah has officially enacted the App Store Accountability Act into law.
As per the new law, individuals in Utah must be at least 18 years old to create a new account with an app store; users who are underage will be required to connect their account to a parent’s account to obtain consent for using certain applications.
Meta, Snap, and X have expressed their support for this legislation. “We commend Governor Cox and the State of Utah for being the first to empower parents and users with enhanced control over teen app downloads, and we encourage other states to adopt this visionary approach,” the three companies stated in a joint release on Wednesday. “This initiative spares users from repeatedly providing personal information to numerous individual apps and online platforms.”
It is anticipated that Apple and Google may pursue legal avenues to challenge the validity of the law.
DMN’s Perspective
There are compelling reasons to transfer this responsibility to Apple and Google.
Firstly, having a few app store providers perform the age verification once per account is far more efficient compared to requiring each app developer to do so independently. Additionally, these companies generally have credit card information on file for adult users, which simplifies the verification process.
Secondly, date of birth information is considered sensitive personal data. Personally, I would feel much more comfortable entrusting this information to Apple rather than sharing it with companies like Meta and X.
iOS 18.4 prompts users to enter their age when setting up a new iPhone; however, currently, Apple does not verify this information.
Image: Apple
