HR3149-119

What This Bill Does

The App Store Accountability Act creates a child online safety compliance regime for app stores with more than 5 million U.S. users. Covered app store providers must request and verify a user's age category at account creation, affiliate minor accounts with a verified parental account, obtain verifiable parental consent before minors download or buy apps or make in-app purchases, notify users and parents after significant app changes, share only age category and parental-consent status with developers, protect age-verification personal data with minimization and safeguards including encryption, display age ratings and content descriptions clearly when used, and provide real-time age-category and consent signals. App developers must use the app store signal, verify age category and consent before downloads, purchases, significant changes, or legal compliance requests, notify app stores of significant changes, avoid enforcing contracts against minors without verified parental consent, avoid misrepresenting parental consent disclosures, avoid sharing age-category data with unaffiliated third parties other than service providers or processors, and treat receipt of the signal as actual knowledge of age category. FTC must issue guidance within one year, review app store compliance policies within 30 days when requested, certify compliant providers for one year, receive complaints, and enforce violations as unfair or deceptive acts. State attorneys general may bring civil actions for injunctions, compliance, damages, restitution, and other relief, while the bill preempts state laws on age verification for app stores and app developers covered by the Act.

Who Benefits and How

Parents of minors benefit because app stores must obtain verifiable parental consent before minors download or purchase apps or make in-app purchases. Children using mobile apps benefit from age-category verification, consent rules, and limits on age-data sharing. Covered app store providers benefit from a federal preemption standard and FTC certification pathway once they build compliant systems. App developers benefit from safe harbor when they rely in good faith on app store age-verification data or their own compliant process. State attorneys general benefit from an explicit civil enforcement path for resident harms.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Covered app store providers must build age-verification, parental-account, consent, data-security, developer-signal, policy-review, and change-notice systems. App developers must verify age category, request consent signals, update disclosures, avoid certain data sharing, and modify contract enforcement against minors. FTC consumer protection staff must issue guidance, review compliance policies, certify providers, receive complaints, and enforce violations. State attorneys general must notify FTC and coordinate intervention rights when bringing actions. Adult users may bear privacy burdens from age-verification data collection even with minimization rules.

Key Provisions

• Defines age categories for adults, teenagers, children, and young children plus covered app stores with more than 5 million U.S. users.
• Requires covered app stores to verify age category, link minor accounts to parental accounts, obtain parental consent, secure age data, and provide real-time signals.
• Requires app developers to use app store signals, notify significant changes, honor consent limits, and avoid sharing age-category data with unrelated third parties.
• Directs FTC guidance, compliance certification, complaint review, and unfair-or-deceptive-act enforcement.
• Authorizes state attorney general enforcement and preempts covered state age-verification requirements.