APPLE has broken its silence after a new bill forcing App Store users to prove their age has been signed into law.
Parents will have to give the green light on what their kids download if they are under 18.
GettyApp Store users will have to prove their age to make downloads thanks to a new law[/caption]Children in Texas will have to get consent from their parents if they want to make any app store purchases.
The bill was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, but it has proved divisive among tech giants.
Meta and X are among the platforms that have welcomed the move, but Apple chiefs have voiced concerns.
Peter Ajemian, a spokesperson for Apple, claimed the new law is a threat to privacy.
“It requires app marketplaces to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it’s an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores,” he told The New York Times.
Google chiefs are yet to comment on Abbott’s moves, but the company had already sounded the alarm.
Officials feared Americans data could end up in the hands of cybercriminals, as reported by the Fox affiliate KSCC-TV.
“What that’s resulted in is one of the most extreme age verification regimes that we’ve seen thus far,” Kareem Ghanem, a senior executive at Google, said.
“It puts that data at risk for being captured by hackers and thieves, and most importantly, it does absolutely nothing to keep kids and teens safer online.”
Ghanem also feared that teens would have a false sense of security by using apps such as Meta and X, which are not directly impacted by the new law on app stores.
Google chiefs are already looking into ways how parents can protect their children.
Plans to bring in a tool that controls screen time have been touted.
Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, signed a bill that would force social media companies to limit screen time of children.
The law would see screen time curtailed to just one hour.
And, parents would have the final say on whether to extend this.
Youngkin said the new law would help tackle the mental health crisis, which he believes has been caused by social media.
But, it remains to be seen how the new law will be enforced.
“”I don’t know if I see it being effective,” Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information told the Fox affiliate WTTG.
“Honestly, kids are very clever at getting around these and, you know, I totally understand that.”
Golbeck wondered if technology chiefs would order each user to prove their age by downloading ID cards.
GettyGoogle chiefs had sounded the alarm before the bill was signed into law[/caption]More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
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