Lawmakers in the United States are considering new legislation that would change how app stores verify users’ ages and manage parental consent. The App Store Accountability Act would require major app stores to verify users’ age categories and obtain parental approval before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases.
Supporters say the measure would help parents better understand and control the apps their children use. Critics argue it could introduce new privacy and security risks by requiring companies to collect and store sensitive personal information.
What the App Store Accountability Act would do
The App Store Accountability Act (H.R. 3149)(nova janela) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in May 2025 by Representatives John James (R-MI) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL). The bill aims to safeguard children online by giving parents clearer information about apps and requiring parental consent for minors.
The proposal would apply to large app store providers with more than five million users in the United States.
If enacted, the law would require app stores to:
- Request age information and verify a user’s age category when an account is created.
- Place users into age categories, including under 13, 13–15, 16–17, and adults.
- Link minors to a verified parental account before they can download apps or make purchases.
- Obtain verifiable parental consent before minors access apps or make in-app purchases.
- Share age-category signals with app developers so apps can determine whether a user is a minor and whether parental consent has been granted.
The bill would also require app developers to notify app stores if their apps undergo significant changes, such as new data collection practices or monetization features. If those changes affect minors, app stores would need to notify the parent linked to the account and obtain new parental consent.
The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the law, and state attorneys general could also bring legal actions against companies that fail to comply.
How age verification would work
Under the proposed law, users would provide age information when creating an app store account. App stores would then verify that information using a commercially available age-verification method(nova janela) designed to reasonably ensure accuracy.
If a user is identified as a minor, the account must be connected to a verified parental account. Parents would then provide verifiable parental consent(nova janela) before the child could download apps or make purchases.
App stores would send an age-category signal to app developers indicating whether a user is a child, teenager, or adult, and whether parental consent has been obtained.
State laws and the Texas App Store Accountability Act
Several states, including Utah, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, have passed similar app store age-verification laws.
Some of these laws have faced legal challenges. For example, a federal court blocked enforcement(nova janela) of a Texas law requiring app stores (nova janela)to verify the age of all users at the app-store level, with a judge comparing the requirement to forcing bookstores to check every customer’s ID before allowing entry.
Privacy and security concerns about the App Store Accountability Act
While many policymakers support stronger protections for children online, critics have raised privacy concerns(nova janela) about the approach taken in the App Store Accountability Act.
One concern is that all users—including adults—would need to verify their age, even if they only want to download apps that do not require age restrictions. This could require users to provide identifying information such as government-issued IDs or biometric data.
Some privacy advocates also warn that centralized age-verification systems could create new databases containing sensitive personal information, which may become targets for hackers or data breaches.
Others argue that the system could be easy to bypass, since users could access many online services through web browsers instead of downloading apps through app stores.
What happens next
The bill recently advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee(nova janela). The next step would be a vote in the full House of Representatives.
However, the bill still faces hurdles before becoming law, including potential revisions in the Senate and ongoing debates over privacy, security, and the most effective ways to protect children online.
