Before Your Kid Downloads Another App, 28 States Want Your ID — And Your Data

Twenty-eight states now want proof of your kid's age before they download a single app. And to prove that age, someone has to hand over an I.D. — or personal data — to the app store itself. Texas started it. Then twenty-seven more states lined up behind them at the Supreme Court.

If you've ever handed your phone to your kid, this

If you've ever handed your phone to your kid, this story is about you. Right now, when your child downloads an app, that check happens inside the app — after they're already in. Texas passed a law that flips that around. It puts the age check at the app store itself — at Apple and Google — before anything downloads. Supporters say it protects kids online. Tech companies say it forces you to prove your age just to reach the internet. So who ends up holding your family's data — and what happens if it leaks?

Let's start with what the Texas law actually does. It requires app stores to verify how old you are. And for anyone under eighteen, it requires a parent's consent before they can download or buy an app. That moves the job upstream. Apple and Google become the gatekeepers — not the thousands of individual app makers. For a parent tired of endless "verify your age" pop-ups, that sounds simpler. One checkpoint instead of a hundred. This article is part of a series — start with Your Kids Birthday Photo Is All A Stranger Needs And It Take.

But simpler at the front door means something bigger happening behind it. Right now, age checks are scattered across countless apps, each with its own privacy policy. This law pulls all of that into one place. One central spot where your I.D. or your data gets collected and stored. Parents think they're gaining control. What they may actually be building is a single pile of verification data — bigger, and more centralized, than what exists today.

This isn't one state going it alone

Now, this isn't one state going it alone. Twenty-seven other attorneys general joined Texas at the Supreme Court. They asked the justices to let the law stay in effect while the case plays out. Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws that haven't started yet. Alabama's on deck too. That's a coordinated push — not a one-off experiment. If Texas wins, app store age checks could become the default across the country. Previously in this series: App Store Age Verification Scotus 28 States.

The tech industry's fighting back on free speech grounds. The Computer and Communications Industry Association told the court this law forces app stores to police access to huge amounts of online speech. Their lawyer, Matt Schruers, put it plainly. He said people shouldn't have to turn over personal data to reach the internet — any more than they'd show a government I.D. to walk into a bookstore. No state, the group argued, has ever made you prove your age before reading a newspaper.

The tricky part? The legal winds may favor Texas. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a different law requiring age checks on pornographic websites. That ruling split the court, with its six conservative justices in the majority. So the door to age verification is already open. Up next: App Store Age Verification Scotus 28 States.