• by Wendy Davis , 5 hours ago

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill requiring operating systems providers and app stores to ask users their ages when creating accounts, and to inform app developers about which of four age brackets users fall into -- under 13, between 13 and 15, between 16 and 18, or at least 18.

The statute does not require developers or app stores to obtain parental permission before allowing minors to download apps.

Three other states -- Utah, Texas and Louisiana -- have passed more restrictive laws that not only require app stores to verify users' ages, but also require those stores to block minors from downloading apps without parental approval.

Google and Meta supported the California bill, according to a statement put out last month by Wicks.

But the tech industry-funded policy organization Chamber of Progress criticized the California bill, calling it "a solution in search of a problem."

"Tech companies have already spent years building parental controls and child-safe experiences into their platforms," the group said earlier this month.

It added that the measure "risks freezing innovation, piling on compliance costs, and creating privacy headaches, all while duplicating protections that are already in place."

The law is slated to take effect in 2027.