The App Store Accountability Act, recently introduced in Congress, presents itself as a solution to protect children online. In reality, it is a sweeping mandate that forces every American to surrender personal data just to use every day mobile apps. By requiring universal age verification at the app store level, most likely through government-issued IDs, this bill mandates the collection of sensitive personal information from millions of users, regardless of age or the type of app they’re trying to access. This isn’t about protecting children, it’s a one-size fits all approach to safety that would allow for mass data gathering under the guise of safety.
From a privacy perspective, this bill is a disaster waiting to happen. Centralizing personal data like IDs and birthdates creates a massive target for cybercriminals. The government would essentially be encouraging app stores to build data warehouses full of the exact kind of sensitive information that hackers dream about. One breach could expose the identities of millions. Worse still, because this mandate applies to app stores, it captures every user even if they want to use harmless apps such as the weather, calculator or even flashlight apps, turning the simplest downloads into potential privacy risks. For a bill claiming to protect users, it does the exact opposite.
Additionally, it would place a huge and unnecessary regulatory burden on American app businesses of all sizes, forcing them to build expensive architectures to collect, store and protect data.
Most people agree that parents should play a leading role in guiding their children’s digital experiences. That’s why it’s important that any solution to online safety complements, rather than replaces, existing parental controls. This bill, however, removes parents from the equation and forces a child’s personal information to be handed over without parents even weighing in on which apps or platforms should have access to that data. A better approach would involve working with parents, not around them, to build tools that preserve both safety and parental choice.
Then there’s the issue of cost, both financial and constitutional. This bill is highly likely to face legal challenges, as similar age verification laws have repeatedly been struck down by courts for violating the First Amendment rights of both minors and adults—there is no age limit to an American’s right to access constitutionally protected speech. Defending this legislation in court will require significant taxpayer resources, potentially costing Missourians and Americans millions in legal fees and administrative expenses. At a time when public funds are already stretched thin, investing time and money into a law that is unlikely to withstand legal challenges is both inefficient and irresponsible. Lawmakers should be prioritizing practical, effective solutions, not funding lengthy legal battles over flawed policy.
Kids’ online safety is not an issue that should be ignored, but this approach is definitively not the way to solve it. The App Store Accountability Act forces intrusive data collection, overrides parental rights and will waste taxpayer money on a deeply flawed solution. We need smarter, targeted approaches that respect privacy, empower parents and preserve innovation without turning every smartphone into a surveillance tool.
Missouri’s lawmakers should reject this bill before it does serious damage.
Missouri-based entrepreneur and founder of several technology companies
