Apple begins age verification for Texas App Store users

Apple is toeing the line in Texas, where a contentious law that requires app stores to perform age verification is once again in effect, after a federal court judge stayed an injunction that had put it on hold.

A statement on Apple’s website says new Apple Accounts in Texas are now subject to the law, SB 2420, which in addition to age assurance requirements, also mandates parent-guardian consent before underage users can download apps, make in-app purchases, or make “significant changes associated with an app.”

Apple Accounts for users under 18 must be part of a Family Sharing group, and “parents or guardians will also be able to revoke their consent for any app they previously approved for their child,” Apple says. The changes take effect today.

The law dictates that Apple is required to use “commercially reasonable methods to identify an individual’s age.”

Apple is implementing the requirements through its Declared Age Range API, which shares age-category signals with developers so apps can provide age-appropriate experiences without disclosing a user’s exact age.

Apple is also requiring developers to use its Significant Change API under the PermissionKit framework for updates that could alter an app’s age classification.

Apple is recommending that developers review documentation, implement the Declared Age Range API and the Significant Change API under PermissionKit, adopt the new age rating property type in StoreKit, turn on App Store server notification, and “use Apple’s sandbox testing environment to validate that the APIs have been implemented correctly.”

That’s good advice, since violations of Texas’ app store law can bring fines of up to $10,000 for developers.

That said, Texas’ law remains on thin ice. Opponents, including the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), say they intend to appeal the stay, convinced that the initial injunction, imposed on First Amendment grounds, will be reactivated.

The back-and-forth could see Apple opt to reverse the rules if another challenge is successful. But the question will be how much Apple wants to repeatedly change directions, given the general global trend toward age assurance legislation for online content and app stores. Inertia may dictate that, once a policy is in place, reversing it in time with legal challenges could prove to be too much effort for too little return.

That said, former Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly called Texas Governor Greg Abbott to personally ask him to kill SB 2420. While the lobbying effort reportedly failed, Apple may still feel strongly enough about the law to continue pushing back as long as legal challenges remain active.

Article Topics

age verification  |  app store age verification  |  Apple  |  Declared Age Range  |  Texas age verification