Get the latest tech news
Texas’s New App Store Age Verification Law Has Serious Privacy Issues
Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas App Store Accountability Act, which is set to take effect at the beginning of next year. The new law, which purports to be about improving child safety online, has significant implications for user privacy and data security.
While the specifics are yet to be determined, that means Google and Apple will have to collect some form of user identification, whether that's a driver's license, passport, or other government-issued ID, or biometric data, such as a facial scan, for anyone using their app stores in Texas. Utah passed a similar bill earlier this year making app stores responsible for centralizing age verification, and while its requirements are slightly less onerous, they're not much better when it comes to your privacy. Aaron Mackey, free speech and transparency litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), notes that the Texas law doesn't have any built-in protections for user data, such as minimizing what is collected and transmitted and for how long it is retained.
Or read this on r/technology
