Age Verification & App Store Accountability

Are age verification laws the death of the open internet? Some say it’s the start, but we need to take a factual look at today’s legislative climate. Today’s post will look at the laws already shaping how we use apps and browse the web. We’ll look at the state‑level age‑verification mandates (Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi) and the new “App Store Accountability” bills that are forcing app distributors to verify users’ ages.

The common thread? A push toward mandatory Digital ID checks for netizens.

Age Verification Laws

Some states in the U.S. have enacted remarkably similar laws, requiring websites to verify their users if their content is at least one-third adult material. This one-third measure is parroted by Texas Bill HB 1181, Louisiana Bill HB 142, Utah SB 287, and Mississippi SB 2346.

It’s unclear how sites should be measuring the proportion of adult content, but if they fall into the one-third category, visitors are required to prove they are of legal age before accessing the website.

Acceptable proof can be a government‑issued ID, a Digital ID, or any “commercially reasonable” method that uses transactional data (e.g., credit‑card information).

Both children and adults will be asked to upload their ID and bypass selfie checks or be corraled into the more “convenient” method—using a Digital ID. Lucky for them, Apple just released Digital ID functionality as part of Apple Wallet.

If platforms do not comply with these measures, fines could reach up to $10,000.00 a day.

Although keeping kids safe online is important, laws such as these push the internet towards mandatory digital ID checks, eroding anonymity online and gatekeeping the internet.

App Store Accountability

Utah and Texas are known for their App Store Accountability Acts, which would require anyone signing up for app stores to verify their age with the same types of mechanisms mentioned above. The definition for “app store” is extremely broad and could be interpreted to mean any website that lets you download software.

The acts also have developer obligations in that developers of applications must publish age ratings.

Are these laws going to require every person in these states to verify their age? Potentially—although the law specifies that the verification should happen on account creation. It’s unclear what this means for existing accounts.

The impact on alternative sources for applications is also noteworthy. F-Droid, a popular application catalog, does not have to comply with these guidelines because it does not have user accounts by design.

F-Droid is also managed as part of a non-profit and would qualify for exclusion under these requirements.

The F-Droid team is responding to the legal climate, separating out F-Droid’s adult apps from the main repositories. Users seeking these apps will need to opt-in and confirm they are of age. No biometrics or ID needed.

Conclusion

These laws continue to erode privacy on the internet, as large swaths of people will inadvertently be onboarded for Digital ID and biometric scanning. As these systems grow and normalize, social networks may decide to implement the same age verification flows out of an abundance of caution.

We need to ask ourselves, will these laws achieve their stated goal of keeping kids safe? Or should that be in the hands of parents and educators?

Although it comes down to individual decision, my personal stance is that responsible technology use is what would keep the youth safe. This means less screen time, not even close to the school-sponsored screen time that students already receive of 8 hours a day.

It’s no wonder that these bad habits that first develop at school make their way home. These new laws are like a careless bandage on the wound left over from the lockdown era, one that serves to continue centralizing power and surveillance in the hands of a few while suppressing the rights of everyone else.

This is a segment from #TBOT Show Episode 18. Watch the full episode here.

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