CCIA Sues Texas Over App Store Age-Verification Law
A Texas law requiring app stores to verify the age of users is unconstitutional and should be blocked, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Privacy Daily provides accurate coverage of newsworthy developments in data protection legislation, regulation, litigation, and enforcement for privacy professionals responsible for ensuring effective organizational data privacy compliance.
SB-2420, set to go into effect Jan. 1, also prohibits kids younger than 18 from downloading certain apps or making in-app purchases without parental consent. The law violates the First Amendment and poses privacy risks, CCIA said. In addition, the complaint alleges violations of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Age verification burdens the rights and interests of all app store users, including adults,” as “everyone who creates an account -- essentially everyone with a mobile phone -- is required to have their age verified and to submit sensitive, personal documentation or biometric information before they will be allowed to access protected speech,” the complaint said.
“Verification methods that ask users to upload a government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, or input credit card information will, at best, deter users, many of whom do not wish to disclose this type of sensitive information to app stores, from accessing the tremendous amount of expressive and informational offerings,” the complaint said. At worst, it “will carve out substantial segments of the population from being able to comply at all.”
CCIA added that minors can easily avoid restrictions by going to a company's mobile website instead of using their app. Also, the Apple App Store and Google Play Store already have parental controls for guardians to monitor children's accounts and online activities, it said.
“We support online protections for younger internet users, and those protections should not come at the expense of free expression and personal privacy,” said CCIA Senior Vice President and Director of the association’s Litigation Center Stephanie Joyce in a release Thursday. The Texas attorney general's office couldn't be reached by our deadline.
Utah and Louisiana have enacted similar laws to the Texas one, Wiley lawyers noted in a Thursday blog post.
"These laws are aimed at expanding online age-gating and applying parental consent requirements even to apps that are not 'directed' to children under 13 under federal privacy law," they said. "The laws will impact app developers that do not intend for children to use their apps and do not typically need to handle age-related information about their app users."
"Any business offering an app to a resident of these states -- regardless of its targeted audience -- should be prepared to comply with their obligations before the fast-approaching deadlines," the lawyers added.
While all three laws share common themes, they have varying degrees of liability, the Wiley post said. Each one, however, requires that app stores sort every user into an age category, and be able to receive parental consent for users who are minors. Additionally, app developers will be required to give themselves an age rating for app stores to display. App stores and developers must also minimize data.
"While these three laws are set to take effect in the coming months, several other state legislatures are considering similar laws," and these laws "continue to be proposed and adopted," the lawyers said.