Google criticizes the bill to require app stores to verify age, saying that 'Meta and other companies are forcing child safety protection on app stores unilaterally,' and claims that apps can handle child safety better than app stores.



Google criticized a bill that would require app stores like Google Play to verify children's ages, saying, 'Meta and other companies are pushing various bills to shift the responsibility for keeping children safe onto app stores.'

Utah age assurance bill and Google's alternative vision

https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/google-legislative-proposal-for-keeping-kids-safe-online/




Meta is trying to 'offload' kids safety onto app stores, Google says | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/628583/google-meta-app-store-age-verification-kids-ssafety-utah

Google asks Utah's governor to veto the state's app store age verification bill
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-asks-utahs-governor-to-veto-the-states-app-store-age-verification-bill-233733280.html

In the US state of Utah, a bill called the 'App Store Accountability Act' has been introduced. This bill would force app stores to share information about whether users are children or teenagers with all app developers without parental consent or rules on how the information can be used. Google argues that if this bill is passed, malicious actors could sell information about which users are children or teenagers or use it for other illicit purposes, posing a risk to privacy and safety.

Google argues that this type of data sharing is unnecessary, stating that 'for example, a weather app doesn't need to know if its users are children. But it also states that 'social media apps need to make important decisions about age-appropriate content and features. Google points out that the App Store Accountability Act would allow social media companies to avoid responsibility and push it onto app stores, even though apps are just one of several ways children access social media.

In addition, the App Store Accountability Act requires app stores to obtain parental consent for each app download, and Google has warned against excessive restrictions, saying that this could 'cut teens off from digital services such as educational and navigation apps.'



Google lists 'solutions that require proper user consent and minimize data exposure' as ways to better protect children, and specifically explains the following five points as important:

To protect privacy, age information should only be shared with consent.
Some laws, including the Utah bill, require app stores to send age information to all developers without the permission of the user or their parents. However, Google's proposal states that only developers who create apps that are risky for minors should request industry-standard age information from app stores, and that information should only be shared with the user's (or their parent's) permission. By sharing age information only with developers who need it to provide an age-appropriate experience and by minimizing the information shared, Google argued that 'the risk of sensitive information being shared broadly should be mitigated.'

- Appropriate safety measures within the app
In Google's proposal, age information helps developers understand 'whether a user is an adult or a minor.' This puts the onus on developers to apply appropriate safety and privacy protections. For example, if an app developer knows a user may be a minor, they can filter out certain types of content, introduce break reminders, or offer different privacy settings. Developers know their apps best, so they should be in the best position to determine when and where age restrictions are beneficial for users. And that may change over time. This is another reason why a one-size-fits-all approach (like the App Store Accountability Act, which would force app stores to require age verification) would not adequately protect children.

Responsible use of age information
Some bills do not establish guardrails against developers misusing age information, creating new risks to child safety. Google's proposal would ensure that age information is used responsibly, imposing clear penalties on developers who violate users' trust. For example, Google argued that it would be possible to prevent developers from inappropriately accessing or sharing age information.

- Do not personalize advertising to minors
In tandem with these measures, Google also supports an industry standard ban on personalized advertising targeted at users under the age of 18, a practice that Google has long prohibited and argued that other companies should follow suit.

- Centralized parental control
Parents can get overwhelmed with parental controls across different apps, and recognizing this, Google is proposing to provide a centralized dashboard for parents to manage their children's online activity across different apps in one place and allow developers to easily integrate.



'Google has demonstrated its commitment to doing its part to keep children safe online. We're ready to take this work even further and will continue to engage with lawmakers and developers on ways to advance the legal framework for age assurance,' the company said.

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in Mobile,   Software, Posted by logu_ii