House could vote soon to require age verification in Alabama app stores

The House Committee on State Government has approved HB161, which requires app stores to verify a user’s age and link parent accounts for minors.

Sponsor Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, said this bill puts the control back in parents’ hands by stopping children from downloading apps without adults’ permission.

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“As we’re here, we talk about budgets, we talk about a lot of things, but really, what’s the most important thing in our lives? That’s our children, you know? What this does is just trying to help protect our children,” Sells said.

A similar bill passed in the House last session, but the Senate never voted on it. Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, has said he will push an age verification bill in that chamber this year.

Legal challenges

Opponents say if passed, the legislation will face legal challenges as it has in other states.

The bill would sort children into age categories when they make an account on app stores. If users are under age, guardians would have to set up a linked account to approve the minor to download apps and make in-app purchases. If developers make major changes to apps, parents would also have to reauthorize their children’s usage of them.

The bill also stops app stores from being able to enforce contracts or terms of service agreements against minors without their parents’ permission.

The committee held a public hearing on the bill last week.

Several parents spoke in favor of it, saying it would make it easier to monitor their children’s digital activity and make sure they are having an age-appropriate experience.

“It restores parental oversight by restricting app stores from allowing underage children to sign contracts,” said Stephanie Smith, president and CEO of the Alabama Policy Institute. “Nowhere in the brick and mortar or real world do children sign contracts, nor should they. They can’t even sign their own field trip form.”

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Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said he expects to see the bill on the House floor soon.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Claire Harrison and originally published by Alabama Daily News.