App Store Accountability Act

The App Store Accountability Act creates a private right of action for parents to sue app store providers if their child is harmed by exposure to certain content on apps, and establishes a safe harbor for providers that meet specific child safety requirements. Sec. 3, Definitions: Defines key terms including age categories (young child under 13, child 13-15, teenager 16-17, adult 18+), covered content (sexual material, graphic violence, or social/messaging forums where minors interact), covered app store provider (any person owning/controlling an app store with over 5 million U.S. users), and verifiable parental consent. Sec. 4, Private right of action: Allows a parent of a minor to sue a covered app store provider in federal court if the minor suffered an injury from exposure to covered content on an app from that store. The court may award actual damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and other relief. Sec. 5, Safe harbor for covered app store providers: A provider is immune from lawsuits if the FTC determines it performs nine specified activities, including age verification, obtaining verifiable parental consent for minors to use the store and for each app download/purchase/in-app purchase, providing parental oversight tools (filters, usage limits), displaying age ratings, sending age signals to developers, and certifying that developers also follow rules (age ratings, parental oversight, time restrictions, using the provider's age signal). The FTC reviews policies within 30 days, eligibility lasts 1 year, and the safe harbor is lost if the provider sells age category data or acts contrary to Congress's sense. Sec. 6, Severability: If any part of the Act is invalid, the rest remains in effect. Sec. 7, Effective date: The Act takes effect one year after enactment.