Today, the Utah governor signed the App Store Accountability Act (S.B. 142). This law is the first of its kind nationally and intends to force app stores (such as the Apple AppStore and Google Play) to verify their customer’s ages. The law is the fourth major piece of legislation put forth by the state of Utah intended to protect kids online:
- SB152 requires age verification for social media
- SB287 requires age verification for access to adult content
- SB104 requires parental controls to come pre-installed on devices
What is Utah S.B. 142?
App store providers (of which the two largest are Apple and Google) must request and verify the age of users at the time of account creation using commercially reasonable methods or processes compliant with standards set by Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection.
If a user is identified as a minor, the app store must:
- Require the minor’s account to be affiliated with a parent or guardian’s account.
- Obtain verifiable parental consent before permitting the minor to download apps or make in-app purchases.
- Automatically enable filters that prevent the user from accessing apps meant for adults.
Apple and Google have both come out against the law, which places the onus of all age verification and protection of minors on the managers of the app stores, instead of the individual applications. While Meta, X, and other applications are in favor, as the law does not require that they add in additional age verification measures and provides a “verify once” approach that is popular with privacy advocates.
Utah does not outline requirements for how Apple and Google must verify age. Traditional digital identity verification methods present challenges when verifying minors as minors typically do not have government issued photo IDs.
How might S.B. 142 impact app developers?
While the primary responsibility for age verification and parental consent lies with app store operators like Apple and Google, developers should ensure they are providing accurate age ratings for their apps so that their apps can be categorized correctly by filters put in place by the app stores. The law may necessitate app stores to share users’ age information with developers, raising privacy and data security considerations. Developers must handle any received data responsibly and in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
Which other states are considering app store age verification laws?
There are currently 9 other states with similar laws in progress:
This law, which follows similar legalese to other popular age verification laws, is expected to pop up in additional states and echo the sweep of 17 US states that now require age verification for access to adult websites.
The Utah App Store Accountability Act is effective from May 7, 2025
