AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

The App Store Accountability Act, which sets rules for how app stores and app developers verify users' ages and secure parental consent for minors, would be revised to extend these requirements to "pre-installed applications" — apps like browsers, search engines, and messaging tools that come already loaded on a phone or tablet — requiring app stores to share age information and help developers obtain parental consent for these apps upon request, just as with downloaded apps. The bill also updates age verification standards, requiring app stores to use commercially available methods that, for minors, include a parent's affirmative confirmation of the child's age, and it eliminates a previous requirement that the Division of Consumer Protection create rules for alternative verification methods. Most operational requirements — including age verification, parental consent, and related developer duties — would take effect May 6, 2027, while other provisions of the bill would take effect May 6, 2026. The bill further restricts developers to using age data shared by app stores only for specific purposes such as enforcing age restrictions or complying with the law, allows developers to ask app stores to block minors from downloading their apps, and clarifies that companies would not have to retroactively block apps already installed on a device unless a parent withdraws consent or the app undergoes a significant change.