Google And Apple Protest Ratification Of Age Verification Rules In App Stores

Play store illustration (photo: Google)

Utah has officially enacted a new law, requiring Apple and Google to verify user age in their app stores and obtain parental consent for minors.

The new App Store Accountability Act, known as SB 142, will take effect in the country on May 7.

The rule is, if the person is under 18 years old, then their account must be linked to the parent or verified with additional documentation. Parents must also approve the purchase of children in the application.

Fortunately, three major companies such as Meta, Snap, and X welcomed the law, in a joint statement on Wednesday.

"Parents want an integrated service center to oversee and approve many of the apps their teenage children want to download, and Utah has taken the lead in concentrating it on the device app store," the three companies quoted Business Insider as saying.

The tech giants considered that this approach could prevent users from repeatedly sending personal information to countless online applications and services.

When Meta has pushed app stores to implement age restrictions, Apple has instead said that this new policy will cause privacy concerns.

Google, in its official blog in mid-March, also mentioned that the law will pose real privacy and security risks, such as potential criminals to sell data or use them for other malicious purposes.

"The RUU (now the law) helps social media companies avoid this responsibility even though the application is only one of the many ways children can access this platform," said Kareem Ghanem, Director, Google's Public Policy.

However, when the bill was signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Wednesday, March 26, there had been no further comment from Google or Apple.