A sweeping age verification plan targeting app stores is gaining momentum in Congress, with Pinterest becoming the latest tech company to endorse federal legislation that would fundamentally change how Americans download apps. The App Store Accountability Act represents a shift from state-by-state patchwork laws to a unified national approach that puts Apple and Google at the center of child safety efforts online.
The age verification wars are shifting to a new battleground, and this time Apple and Google find themselves squarely in the crosshairs. What started as a Utah experiment is now barreling toward Congress with surprising industry backing, including a fresh endorsement from Pinterest that signals growing tech support for federal intervention.
The App Store Accountability Act, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. John James (R-MI), would require mobile app stores to verify users' ages before download, then transmit that information to apps. It's a dramatic departure from the fragmented approach lawmakers have tried for years – from California's design standards to individual website verification requirements that created compliance nightmares.
"The need for a federal standard is urgent," Pinterest CEO Bill Ready wrote to Rep. James, announcing the company's support. "A single national approach would reduce fragmentation while giving families one simple place to approve the apps their teens download." The endorsement comes as the bill heads to a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing that could determine its fate.
The timing isn't coincidental. Companies like Meta, Snap, and X have already thrown their weight behind the app store model, seeing it as preferable to shouldering verification burdens themselves. For these platforms, shifting responsibility to Apple and Google represents both a competitive advantage and a way to dodge the privacy minefield of collecting sensitive user data directly.
But the two companies that would bear the brunt of compliance – Apple and Google – remain notably cautious. Both have expressed concerns about data sharing requirements that go beyond what they consider appropriate, though Google did endorse California's softer version that doesn't require independent age verification.
