Apple Details App Store Changes to Comply With Texas Age Verification Law

Apple contiguous outlined changes that it is making to the App Store for users and developers located successful Texas to comply with the state's ‌App Store‌ Accountability Act (SB2420).


Starting connected January 1, 2026, Apple users located successful Texas volition request to corroborate whether they are 18 years oregon older erstwhile creating an Apple account. Apple Accounts for users nether 18 volition beryllium required to articulation a Family Sharing group, and parents volition request to supply consent for each ‌App Store‌ downloads, app purchases, and in-app transactions.

Developers volition besides request to marque changes to their apps to comply with the law. To assistance developers, Apple plans to update the Declared Age Range API to supply the required property categories for caller relationship users successful Texas. Apple is besides creating APIs that volition fto developers invoke a strategy acquisition to let the idiosyncratic to petition that parental consent beryllium re-obtained. Parents volition besides beryllium capable to revoke consent to forestall a insignificant from utilizing an app.

Apple has been warring against property assurance requirements successful Texas and different states similar Utah and Louisiana, due to the fact that of the information postulation required to find idiosyncratic age. Apple says that SB2420 volition unit users to stock personally identifiable accusation to download apps.
While we stock the extremity of strengthening kids' online safety, we are acrophobic that SB2420 impacts the privateness of users by requiring the postulation of sensitive, personally identifiable accusation to download immoderate app, adjacent if a idiosyncratic simply wants to cheque the upwind oregon sports scores. Apple volition proceed to supply parents and developers with industry-leading tools that assistance heighten kid information portion safeguarding privateness wrong the constraints of the law.
Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly contacted Texas Governor Greg Abbott to inquire him to veto the legislation, but Abbott was not persuaded and helium signed the enactment into law successful May.

In an effort to caput disconnected kid extortion laws that alteration from authorities to state, Apple introduced caller kid information measures at the opening of 2025. Apple created an updated property standing system, added a simpler mode for parents to acceptable up kid accounts, made changes to what kids spot connected the ‌App Store‌, and developed the Declared Age Range API to supply a privacy-focused mode for developers to corroborate the property scope of app users.

Apple's Declared Age Range API prevents apps from having circumstantial accusation astir children, specified arsenic their day of birth. Apple has continually said that it does not privation to cod accusation similar day of commencement astatine the ‌App Store‌ level due to the fact that each users would request to manus implicit that accusation careless of whether they privation to usage an property constricted app.

SB2420 requires app store platforms to "use a commercially tenable method of verification" to find a user's property during relationship creation. Texas does not specify what a commercially tenable method of verification entails, and Apple hasn't specified however property verification volition work.
This article, "Apple Details App Store Changes to Comply With Texas Age Verification Law" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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