Apple CEO raises privacy concerns over child safety bill
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with U.S. House members on Wednesday to voice concerns over the proposed App Store Accountability Act, which could require Apple to verify users’ ages and collect sensitive data on children. Cook advocated instead for placing responsibility on parents to disclose their child’s age to app stores.
The bill aims to protect minors from harmful online content. While age limits have broad public support—81% of Americans back parental consent for social media accounts—tech companies like Apple and Google warn that verifying ages could involve collecting sensitive documents from millions of users. Meta, meanwhile, supports mandatory age checks at the app store level, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Apple’s global head of privacy, Hilary Ware, noted that some proposals could force the collection of personal information even for harmless apps, like weather or sports apps, raising privacy concerns. Similar laws exist in Texas and Utah, and Australia recently implemented a nationwide social media ban for under-16s.
Similar news
