San Francisco: Apple CEO Tim Cook met with members of the US House to raise concerns about new federal legislation that could require the company to verify users’ ages on its App Store, a move Apple says would force it to collect highly sensitive information from millions of people, including children.
The proposed law, known as the App Store Accountability Act, seeks to ensure that minors are kept away from harmful online content by confirming their ages before they download or use apps. Apple is instead urging lawmakers to place responsibility on parents, allowing them to choose whether to disclose their child’s age to an app store.
The company has long resisted government mandates involving user data, and it warns that the legislation would compel it to collect identifying documents, such as birth certificates, from virtually all users. Apple said that Cook met with members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill to outline these privacy concerns.
States are already moving ahead with their own regulations. Texas has enacted a similar law requiring parental consent for anyone under 18 to download apps or make in-app purchases, while Utah became the first state to pass such a measure earlier this year. Australia has also introduced a nationwide ban preventing children under 16 from accessing social media platforms.
The push for age limits is broadly supported by the US public, but the legislative effort has triggered a tense dispute among major tech companies. Apple and Google, which operate the world’s leading app stores, argue that age verification could lead to mass data collection on children.
By contrast, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, believes app stores must take the lead on verifying ages if age-based restrictions are to be effective.
In a letter sent last week to the committee, Apple’s global head of privacy, Hilary Ware, cautioned that, “not all legislative proposals are equally protective of privacy or focused on holding all players in the ecosystem accountable.” Ware noted that some well-intended efforts would require app marketplaces to collect sensitive details from anyone downloading even basic apps like weather services or sports updates.
A 2023 Pew Research poll found that 81 percent of Americans support requiring parental consent for children to create social media accounts, and 71 percent support mandatory age verification for social media use, underscoring the strong public appetite for tighter online protections for minors.
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