Apple and Google Reluctantly Comply With Texas Age Verification Law (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0179732904
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/09/2044214/apple-and-google-reluctantly-comply-with-texas-age-verification-law
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/apple-and-google-reluctantly-comply-with-texas-age-verification-law/
> Apple yesterday [1]announced a plan to comply with a Texas age verification law and warned that changes required by the law will reduce privacy for app users. "Beginning January 1, 2026, a new state law in Texas -- SB2420 -- introduces age assurance requirements for app marketplaces and developers," Apple said yesterday in [2]a post for developers. "While we share the goal of strengthening kids' online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 impacts the privacy of users by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information to download any app, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores."
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> The [3]Texas App Store Accountability Act requires app stores to verify users' ages and imposes restrictions on those under 18. Apple said that developers will have "to adopt new capabilities and modify behavior within their apps to meet their obligations under the law." Apple's post noted that similar laws will take effect later in 2026 in Utah and Louisiana. Google also recently announced plans for complying with the three state laws and said the new requirements reduce user privacy. "While we have user privacy and trust concerns with these new verification laws, Google Play is designing APIs, systems, and tools to help you meet your obligations," Google told developers in an [4]undated post .
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> The Utah law is scheduled to take effect May 7, 2026, while the Louisiana law will take effect July 1, 2026. The Texas, Utah, and Louisiana "laws impose significant new requirements on many apps that may need to provide age appropriate experiences to users in these states," Google said. "These requirements include ingesting users' age ranges and parental approval status for significant changes from app stores and notifying app stores of significant changes."
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/apple-and-google-reluctantly-comply-with-texas-age-verification-law/
[2] https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=btkirlj8
[3] https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB2420/id/3237346
[4] https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/16569691
Google & Apple brought this on themselves (Score:3)
By making themselves the gatekeepers of their respective platforms, they ensured that government would requirement to monitor their users. It's their own damn fault.
Re: (Score:2)
> By making themselves the gatekeepers of their respective platforms, they ensured that government would requirement to monitor their users. It's their own damn fault.
While there are certainly valid criticisms of how Apple and Google have structured their app stores, blaming them for massive government overreach that they used their extensive lobbying power to fight against is quite a reach. What's next? Will you blame PornHub for the Texas age verification law because, after all, making porn available in Texas is just asking for it?
The internet routes around censorship (Score:1)
These type of rules impact the mainstream app stores but it also helps fuel small independent stores and other ways of downloading and installing apps. The gatekeepers will just be bypassed by those that have the will and technical skills.
No. F**k Texas. (Score:1)
Give app developers the option to simply not offer their apps in Texas, rather than subject their users to this invasion of privacy around the world to appease a few fascist a**holes.
That won't work (Score:2)
These laws are being passed everywhere. They are template laws. A large and powerful group, funded by billionaires like Peter thiel, is pushing for this. So the same laws are being passed in every state. Classic think of the children bullshit means they even pass in California and New York.
The real problem I think is that at the end of the day most voters are not going to prioritize privacy over social issues and moral panics.
So if you get behind somebody that supports privacy rights that's all well a
Re: (Score:3)
That you at all think this is some how partisan is hilarious.
This is driven by corporate greed (Score:2)
And billionaire lust for power.
In America the Democrat party are freckless administrators. It's frustrating that they aren't more effective at solving problems but that doesn't mean they are in the pocket of the billionaires the way the Republicans are.
Obama for example is only worth about $12 million and Biden I think topped out around 21 million. Meanwhile Donald Trump got a 2 billion dollar bribe from Qatar and a couple more billion from Saudi Arabia not to mention the billions he's getting in th
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Democratic, not Democrat.
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Look at the states where it is passing, and then please explain to me how it is not partisan.
I'm serious: I am interested in what leads you (and many others) to that conclusion, when, at least on the surface, it appears obviously partisan.
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Other states and countries have the same BS laws. California has been working it's way to a age check porn law as well. So yes, it's a government thing, not a REPUBLICAN thing.
Sure, in this article we're only talking about the Republican states but let's not pretend it isn't happening in Democrat controlled areas or more left leaning countries. It is. UK is a spectacular example. Last I checked, they are definitely left of the Republicans, even their conservative party.
But sure, it's totally a Republican th
The law punishes churches (Score:2)
This law will be used to gather data to hunt down good god-fearing white Christians and murder them when the details of the Bible apps they use is linked to their home address. I really wonder what these politicians are doing. Why do they hate Christians?
Re: (Score:2)
Ending up on the no-fly list or having your credit rating ruined, all because you Liked a quote from the wrong edition of the Bible is the logical extreme of that.
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Buddy, there have been bombings because those Presbyterians over there only agreed with those other Presbyterians on 99.99999% of church doctrine. Your extreme isn't nearly extreme enough.
Cyberpunk Dystopia (Score:3)
When most of us read a cyberpunk novel, we are lead to sympathize with the plucky protagonists trying to make it through an oppressive and corrupt system of technology.
When tech billionaires read the same novels, they get a raging hard on for the technology and the weird powerful hermits that control the world like a puppet master.
We need to not let psychopaths and sociopaths run the world. Most of us are not going to survive as free people if we let them win.
Don't read the comments here (Score:1)
Cuz if you do you're going to find about half of the old farts that still post around here are on the side of the billionaires.
No I don't know how they got that stupid. I mean yeah I'm sure they ate a lot of lead paint when they were kids but still you would think they would be bright enough to know the billionaires aren't their friends.