Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed a new law Wednesday requiring mobile app stores, including Apple and Google, to implement a user age verification process to protect children online.
The law, sponsored by Senators Todd Weiler (R) and James Dunnigan (R), passed earlier this month. The bill will take effect on May 7th.
“The app is the first main gateway of how to protect your kids.”
Instead of age checks when app downloading, Utah law requires apps to store them beforehand to verify AGEs. App Store Accountability Act,The first law requires providers to check the age category of users, secure the consent of minors' parents, and share that data with app developers. Minors can download or purchase the app or make an in-app purchase by consenting through a linked parent account.
The Act prohibits enforcement of a contract or prohibiting “misinformation of parental content disclosure” to minors who have not received parental consent.
Utah's Consumer Protection Department is tasked with establishing age verification standards.
Additionally, new Utah laws include “creating private rights of conduct for minor parents,” “providing a safe port for compliant developers,” and “involving difficult clauses.”
The law allows parents to sue app providers that violate the law, claiming $1,000 for each violation or actual damages.
Meta, X, and Snap Inc. issued joints statement Praise Utah's new law.
We praise Governor Cox and Utah for being the first in the nation to better manage teenage app downloads and to strengthen other states to consider this groundbreaking approach. Parents want a one-stop shop to oversee and approve many apps teens want to download, and Utah is leading the way in which it centralizes within the app store on their devices. This approach allows users to repeatedly send personal information to countless individual apps and online services. We are committed to protecting parents and teens and look forward to seeing more people in the state adopting this model.
February report from Wall Street Journal It turns out that at least eight other states in eight states (Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia) are considering similar legislation.
Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, told Blaze News that Utah's new bill is “a very strong law” and a “good first step.”
Schilling outlined the major threats children face online.
“You want to protect your children in places where people can access them,” Schilling explained. “The app is the first main gateway in ways to protect kids, so I think that's a really great first step.”
“We must then start protecting children directly from porn online by forcing porn companies to verify their age,” he continues, noting that 20 states are already implementing the requirement. “We must start protecting our children and verify our age of social media accounts in general.”
Schilling told Blaze News that he expects other states to soon implement similar laws to Utah to protect children online.
“There's been a big move from Americans who want to protect their children online and are now translated into political class by politicians and their staff,” he said. “It's really important and important to get things done. It's not just about changing the culture and people's minds. You have to actually legislate it.”
Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Both previously expressed privacy concerns regarding the App Store age verification law.
Last month, Apple said, “The best place to deal with the dangers of age-restricted content is a limited set of websites and apps that host such content.”
On March 12th, Kareem Ghanem, Google's Director of Public Policy, It is listed“These proposals pose new risks to the privacy of minors without addressing the harm that actually encourages lawmakers to act. Google proposes a more comprehensive legislative framework that shares responsibility between app stores and developers and protects child privacy and parental decision-making power.”
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