The Texas App Store Accountability Act, or Senate bill 2420, has been in hot waters with the demand of users submitting official forms of ID to use apps. This bill takes effect on Jan. 1.
This bill is meant to regulate content on social media and restrict content that can be harmful to minors. Under Subchapter B Sec.121.021, of the bill, “When an individual creates an account with an app store, the owner of the app store shall use a commercially reasonable method of verifying the individual’s age.”
Users would then fall under one of four categories: child under age 13, younger teenager ages 13-16, older teenager ages 16-18 then adult.
If the app flags a user is a minor once the form of ID has been submitted and verified, the app store owner will require creating a parent account linked to the minor. Then the parents could approve any activity on their minor’s account. Any action from downloading software to purchases must be reported for consent from the parent.
App stores such as Google Play and Apple App Store, will have to create new systems to verify user information and keep them protected. This also applies to app developers.
“This raises real privacy and safety risks like potential for bad actors to sell the data or use it for nefarious purposes,” Kareem Ghanem, Google’s public policy director, said in Google’s official news publication The Keyword.
“You know it’s bad when even Google says it’s a breach of privacy,” commented a user under the name, extreme_npc on a YouTube video by Techlore.
As of June, 30 separate databases including Apple, Facebook and Google had 16 billion passwords leaked, according to online tech publication Cybernews. There were also 70,000 identities; these are government issued IDs which were used for age verification.
Vital information such as banking information and IP addresses was also stolen. This is due to Discord requiring users to submit forms of identification before SB2420 was signed into initiative. This meltdown was caused by a ransom threat but turned into a much bigger mess causing users, including minors’ personal identification to be leaked.
The law faces a tug-of-war action many view as a necessity. In reference to Utah’s own app store accountability law, Mike Lee, a state representative for Utah, said, “Big Tech has profited from app stores through which children in America and across the world access violent and sexual material while risking contact from online predators.”
Others, like Natalie Ramirez, view the new law as unnecessary. Ramirez works a SGA’s vice president and as an officer for Brookhaven’s Criminal Prelaw and Justice Club. “I don’t believe this is truly necessary because the internet moves way too fast for any singular measure to ever be the solution.”
Ramirez went in depth explaining potential outcomes, explaining that kids are constantly finding new loopholes. The new law will not solve the problem, just serve as a stopgap, Ramirez said.
Ramirez went on to say: “The real leverage lies in shifting to alternative solutions that build on primarily through robust digital education which empowers the minor with the knowledge to defend themselves across all platforms; [platform] accountability, forcing companies to design safety and privacy as the default non-negotiable settings; and informed parental support, giving adults simple affective tools for guidance rather than blunt restriction.”
The ID verification will mainly apply to new accounts. However, current users are not off the hook as they must still follow the law’s requirements. There is a federal bill, Senate Bill 1586, to make this nationwide, though it has yet to be signed into action.
