Parents are doing their best to keep up with technology. Even U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted in a recent oral argument how difficult it is for her and her husband to keep up with technology.
When you bring up this topic, some people will point to existing parental controls. But if you talk to real parents, you’ll hear the same thing over and over: these tools don’t work as parents intend.
And Google literally teaches kids how to turn off parental controls when they turn 13.
That’s why 82% of Kansas parents support Senate Bill 372, the App Store Accountability Act.
SB 372 has earned the backing of national organizations such as Family Policy Alliance, Concerned Women for America, the Heritage Foundation and the American Principles Project – groups with long track records of protecting children.
It’s also supported by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, whose entire mission is safeguarding kids from digital threats.
The bill is rather simple: It requires app stores to age-verify its users, and if users are under 18 they have to be attached to a parent account and get parental approval before they can download an app.
Importantly, SB 372 requires all apps to be rated properly and that they truthfully disclose what a child may encounter on their app, including ads. It also limits how the app stores can use data.
Yet everywhere this bill is introduced, Apple, Google, NetChoice, Roblox and other tech-backed organizations launch aggressive campaigns to confuse well-meaning legislators.
But lawmakers are beginning to see through the fog. In Alabama, the App Store Accountability Act passed unanimously in both chambers.
Here in Kansas, SB 372 passed the Senate with bipartisan support and has been reported favorably by the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs.
Still, despite the great work of our Kansas legislators standing with parents, the opposition is still trying to spread misinformation about this commonsense bill that puts Kansas parents back in charge of their child’s digital lives.
A common talking point the opposition likes to use is that SB 372 would require Kansans to upload their government ID, which is blatantly untrue. SB 372 explicitly states the bill does not require “the submission of government-issued identification of any individual.”
Tech companies also like to claim this bill would reduce privacy and create “databases” of Kansans’ personal information. Again, SB 372 does the exact opposite. Rather than handing over personal information to hundreds of thousands of developers, the App Store Accountability Act requires app stores to use the information they already have to verify whether someone is an adult or not.
Indeed, Apple’s latest tools take less than 30 seconds and do not require the collection of any additional information. In fact, SB 372 requires the deletion of personal information, preventing even the possibility of the creation of a “database.”
In reality, the App Store Accountability Act is more privacy-protective than the status quo, where tech giants are harvesting and using your data – and your child’s data – however they want.
SB 372 and its focus on app stores, which are the chokepoint where children download the apps they spend a majority of their time on, is the next logical step after Kansas passed legislation requiring age verification to access adult websites and content on the internet.
The App Store Accountability Act delivers greater tools for Kansas parents to protect their children and create a better digital future for our next generation.
The wave of opposition from tech companies only shows they will stop at nothing to try to avoid the creation of guardrails for an industry that has been largely unregulated for decades.
It’s time for Kansans to speak up and make their voices heard in support of this important legislation. It’s time to empower parents with tools, rather than continue to allow a multitrillion-dollar industry to thwart them at every turn.
