New Utah law makes app stores responsible for age verification

Summary

Meta, X, and Snap are celebrating a new Utah law that will require Apple and Google to take responsibility for verifying users’ ages on their app stores and obtain parental consent for minors. The tech giants have been battling to determine which party should be responsible for age verification on the app stores. Companies like Meta believe the app stores themselves should verify users’ ages because these entities host and distribute the apps. The app stores, however, argue that companies making the apps should bear the responsibility as they’re the ones offering the product to end users. Utah isn’t the only state considering some such legislation around age verification; it is the first to enact a law of this kind. The App Store Accountability Act, as the new law is called, was passed by Utah’s legislature earlier this month, then headed to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk for a signature to make it official. Ahead of the law’s passing, Apple announced a new set of child safety initiatives for its App Store, which include an age-checking system for apps. Its implementation would allow app developers to use a new Declared Age Range API to access age range information provided by the parent. This information doesn’t provide the app developer with the minor’s exact age or birthdate, but allows them to customize their app experiences appropriately based on the age range provided. Apple’s system requires the app developers to do the work of requesting the age range before an app is used, rather than the App Store verifying the age at the time of download. Not surprisingly, social media companies are thrilled the new Utah law would require app stores to verify users’ ages before apps can be downloaded onto their devices. In a joint statement, Meta, X and Snap praised Utah’s move, saying: “We applaud Governor Cox and the State of Utah for being the first in the nation to empower parents and users with greater control over teen app downloads, and urge other states to consider this ...