App Store Accountability Act Magnifies Privacy and Security Risks, Says OTI

In response to U.S. Representative John James' introduction today of the App Store Accountability Act, the Open Technology Institute (OTI), a New America program fostering equitable access to digital technology and its benefits, issued the following statement from Prem Trivedi, policy director of New America's Open Technology Institute.

We agree with Representative James that youth deserve safer online spaces, but the App Store Accountability Act's age verification requirements undermine people's rights, security, and access to online spaces. These risks are magnified when age verification is mandated at the app store level, as this legislation does.

Representative James likens this bill to presenting your ID at a physical store when buying legally age-restricted content, but that is not a wholly accurate comparison. Online age verification differs from this scenario in ways that critically impact people's rights and security. At a physical store, a clerk can check your ID, but the store doesn't keep your information or link your identity or age to your purchase. When age is verified online, those privacy-protective limits are not guaranteed. Common online age verification methods ask users to submit government IDs or biometrics to confirm their age, leaving that information vulnerable to indefinite storage, theft, or misuse.

By requiring age verification "at the time an individual creates an account with the covered app store provider," this bill's approach is like requiring every person shopping at a grocery store to provide ID upon entering the store, regardless of whether they intend to buy chips, fruit, or alcohol. Just as we are only required to present identification for in-person purchases of legally age-restricted products like alcohol or tobacco, we should not be required to present identification for accessing every digital service or app, ranging from calculator apps to online alcohol delivery services.

App-store age verification restricts online spaces for all users-minors and adults-regardless of whether or not they are seeking age-restricted content. This practice can chill speech and prevent users, especially people without accepted forms of identification, from accessing spaces and content that they could access offline. App-store-based age verification is not even the easy catch-all solution it purports to be. It can often be circumvented by simply accessing services via web browsers. When lawmakers impose online age verification requirements, they should be applied in the least restrictive manner: only for apps and websites offering legally age-restricted content and only for the users seeking to access it. Legislators looking to improve online safety should begin by prioritizing comprehensive privacy protections and security-by-design requirements.

OTI has conducted research and written extensively on age verification and youth online safety. To learn more, be sure to read the following:

• Lilian Coral, Prem M. Trivedi, Sarah Forland, and Nat Meysenburg, "App Stores vs. Platforms: Who Should Be Verifying Internet Users' Ages?" (OTI, 2025).
• Lilian Coral and Prem M. Trivedi, "Texas's Online Age-Verification Law Must Be Overturned," (OTI, 2025).
• Sarah Forland, "Youth Deserve a Thoughtful, Holistic Approach to Online Safety," (OTI, 2024).
• Sarah Forland, Nat Meysenburg, and Erika Solis, "Age Verification: The Complicated Effort to Protect Youth OnlineAge Verification: The Complicated Effort to Protect Youth Online," (OTI, 2024).

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