App Store Age Verification Supporter Slams Google's Alternative
Google’s “feckless alternative” to the Utah App Store Accountability Act “would enable Google to do as little as possible,” the Digital Childhood Alliance said in a blog post expected to be published Monday.
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Google slammed Meta last week for supporting state bills requiring app stores to verify users’ ages, while proposing a narrower alternative (see 2503130035). The Utah legislature passed its app store age-verification bill earlier this month (see 2503050052). Whereas most kids safety bills so far have put the onus on websites or apps like Facebook to check user age, the Utah bill and similar legislation in other states would shift that burden to companies like Apple and Google that sell apps and games.
Bills like Utah’s “are basic consumer protections that align with existing child privacy and underage contract laws,” said the Alliance. The organization was formed last month to support app store age-verification bills and includes a variety of advocacy groups, from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation to the Heritage Foundation.
“Google’s program offers none of these protections and instead preserves the status quo,” said the Alliance. "Lawmakers should reject Google’s ‘safety proposal’ outright and see it for what it is: a self-serving attempt to avoid real accountability.”