Google Wants Governor of Utah to Veto Bill Requiring App Store Age Verification

What Happened?

Google has asked the Governor of Utah to veto a state bill which would require age verification for app stores. 

The state legislature of Utah recently passed a bill requiring app store makers to verify the ages of users and get parental consent for the downloading of apps. 

Kareem Ghanem, Google’s Director of Public Policy, issued a press release saying “These proposals introduce new risks to the privacy of minors, without actually addressing the harms that are inspiring lawmakers to act.” 

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has yet to address Google’s comments publicly.

Why it Matters

According to the language of the App Store Accountability Act in Utah, app stores such as Apple and Google would be responsible for conducting age verifications for potential online users. 

If the bill becomes law, it would place a considerable burden on app stores. They would then be required not only to conduct age verifications but to verify parental consent for those under age as well. 

According to Engadget, Governor Cox has previously signed off on laws that imposed age verification and parental permission requirements on social media companies. However, the measures were revised and later blocked by a judge. 

Google’s argument rests on opposition to the one size fits all approach being adopted by state legislatures. For example, Google pointed out that weather apps don’t need to verify the age of people using them. 

Social media sites are very different. They do have a reason to verify the age of users to determine which content may not be appropriate for those under the age of eighteen. 

The Utah legislation would make no allowance for the different types of apps, imposing a blanket requirement on all of them. 

The Utah bill has been advocated by Meta, who like other social media companies seek to remove age verification requirements from themselves and put those obligations elsewhere. 

In that sense age verification for social media sites and app stores has become a game of political hot potato. While there are genuine reasons to use age verification to protect minors, a blanket requirement on everyone doesn’t seem to take into account the existence of many apps where such protections aren’t needed.

Google of course is trying to do the same thing as Meta. That means attempting to avoid being stuck with cumbersome, expensive, and difficult age verification requirements. Many such verification systems are so easily circumvented as to call into question their efficacy. 

How it Affects You

If the Utah bill becomes law, it’s likely other states may soon follow suit. 

While age verification requirements may prevent minors from viewing adult content, they will also likely impose additional burdens on app stores, apps, and app users who must then navigate the same requirements.