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SB172 INTRODUCED
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SB172
NRCBV8J-1
By Senator Waggoner
RFD: Judiciary
First Read: 20-Jan-26
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NRCBV8J-1 01/14/2026 THR (L)ma 2026-274
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First Read: 20-Jan-26
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would require app store operators to
take certain actions regarding the age of account
holders and to provide age signals that determine an
app user's age category to developers of covered
applications.
This bill would require app store operators to
provide account holders and the parents of account
holders with certain information and tools related to
age signals and age appropriateness.
This bill would authorize the Attorney General
to enforce violations of the bill and would provide
civil penalties for violations.
This bill would also limit liability for
violations in certain circumstances.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to consumer protection; to establish certain
requirements for developers and app store operators regarding
the age of users; to authorize enforcement; to provide
exemptions from liability; and to establish civil penalties.
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exemptions from liability; and to establish civil penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the Access & Responsible Digital Safety Act.
Section 2. For the purposes of this act, the following
terms have the following meanings:
(1) ADULT. An account holder who is or is estimated to
be 18 years of age or older.
(2) AGE CATEGORY. Categorization of an individual based
on age or estimated age, including a description of the user
as a minor, adult, or being within a given age range.
(3) AGE SIGNAL. A signal that indicates an account
holder's age category and may include the general methods by
which that information has been assured, which the account
holder or the account holder's parent has agreed to share.
(4) APPLICATION or APP. A software program that is
designed to be run on a connected device and to perform, or to
help the user perform, a specific task on the connected device
and that is distributed through an app store. The term does
not include websites, Internet browser extensions, or software
with a primary purpose of extending the functionality of an
Internet browser.
(5) APP STORE. Ane application that distributes other
applications from developers to users of connected devices.
The term does not include Internet browsers.
(6) APP STORE OPERATOR. An entity, company, or
organization that owns, operates, or controls an app store.
(7) CONNECTED DEVICE. A smartphone, tablet, gaming
console, or virtual reality device that enables users to
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console, or virtual reality device that enables users to
connect to the Internet and download applications.
(8) COVERED APPLICATION. An application that is not an
app store and that is developed to provide, whether legally
required or not, a different experience for adults than the
experience for minors or to provide an experience that is
intended only for adults. The term includes, but is not
limited to, applications with different account types,
content, or features, or which engage in different advertising
or data practices depending on a user's age. The term does not
include Internet browsers or online search engines.
(9) DEVELOPER. Any individual or entity that creates,
owns, or controls an application.
(10) MINOR. An account holder who is or is estimated to
be under 18 years of age.
(11) PASSWORD. A string of characters or other secure
methods used to enable, deactivate, modify, or uninstall
parental supervision functionality on a device, including a
pin code or passkey.
Section 3. (a) An app store operator shall do all of
the following:
(1) Ask an account holder to declare his or her age
when creating an account with the app store operator.
(2) Provide developers of covered applications the
technical ability to access an age signal where the account
holder or the account holder's parent has agreed to the
access.
(3) Provide the account holder's parent or the
developer of a covered application with the ability to prevent
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developer of a covered application with the ability to prevent
account holders who are not adults from acquiring or using the
developer's covered application from an app store.
(4) Provide the capability to developers to disclose
their relevant parental controls for a covered application
through a centralized product page or user interface that
provides relevant information about a covered application.
(5) Comply with this act regarding any covered
application for which the app store operator is also the
developer.
(6) Refrain from using data collected from third-party
covered applications in the course of compliance with this act
to give the app store operator preference relative to those of
third parties, or to otherwise use the data in an
anti-competitive manner.
(b) An app store operator may do both of the following:
(1) Use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the
age category of an account holder with a reasonable level of
certainty.
(2) Provide an account holder with a mechanism to
obtain his or her age category and the ability to request an
update if an account holder believes his or her age category
is incorrect.
(c) An app store operator that makes a good faith
effort, taking into consideration available technology, to
facilitate the provision of an age signal, shall not be liable
for any of the following:
(1) An erroneous age signal.
(2) Except where the developer and app store operator
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(2) Except where the developer and app store operator
are controlled by the same entity, any conduct by a developer
of a covered application that receives an age signal.
(3) Failing to provide the technical ability to access
an age signal due to any reasonable technical limitations,
such as outages, that prevent the provision of the age signal
upon request.
(4) Not providing an age signal to developers that do
not adhere to reasonable safety standards and app store
policies.
(d)(1) Nothing in this section may be read to preclude
an app store operator from using multiple commercially
reasonable methods to obtain, estimate, or provide the age
category of an account holder.
(2) Nothing in this section may be read to restrict an
app store operator's ability to satisfy this section by
obtaining a minor account holder's age from the minor's
parent.
Section 4. (a) The developer of a covered application
shall do all of the following:
(1) Report to the app store operator whether the
developer's applications provide a different experience for
adults than for minors, or whether the developer's
applications are intended only for adults.
(2) Provide tools to help parents support minors using
the developer's covered applications unless the application is
intended only for adults and blocks minors.
(3) Use commercially reasonable efforts to determine
whether a user is an adult or a minor with a reasonable level
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whether a user is an adult or a minor with a reasonable level
of certainty.
(4) Make a reasonable effort, proportionate to the
risks, to ensure that users who are minors cannot engage in
any activity that has been restricted for adults only.
(5) Obtain consent prior to permitting minor account
holders from accessing content or enabling features the
developer has designated as unsuitable for use by minors
without parental guidance or supervision.
(6) Refrain from delivering advertising to minors.
(b) If a developer chooses to access an age signal
facilitated by an app store operator, the developer shall do
all of the following:
(1) Request the minimum amount of information needed
for purposes of compliance with this act.
(2) Refrain from willfully disregarding any information
related to an individual's age or age category which is
otherwise available to the developer.
(3) Refrain from sharing information obtained from the
age signal with third parties other than a service provider,
but only if the information is necessary for the service
provider to implement safety measures or privacy protections
for minors, or if the developer is required by law to share
the information.
(4) Refrain from using an age signal for any purpose
beyond that intended by this act, including, but not limited
to, using an age signal to back into or attempt to back into a
user's date of birth.
(c) Nothing in this section may be read to require a
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(c) Nothing in this section may be read to require a
developer to determine whether a user is an adult or a minor
if the developer and the app store operator are controlled by
the same entity.
Section 5. An app store operator or operating system
provider that makes a good faith effort to comply with this
act, taking into consideration available technology, shall not
be liable under any provision of this act, or otherwise liable
for its actions taken in attempt to comply with this act,
including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) The provision of an erroneous age signal.
(2) The conduct of a developer of a covered application
that receives an age signal.
(3) Failing to provide an age signal due to any
reasonable technical limitations or outages that prevent the
provision of an age signal upon request.
Section 6. (a) A developer is solely liable for
correctly identifying whether the developer's applications are
covered applications under this act. No app store may be
required to proactively identify covered applications. An app
store may not be held liable in cases where a developer
provides inaccurate information about its applications.
(b) The developer of a covered application shall not be
liable for an erroneous age signal provided by an app store
operator if the developer makes a reasonable effort, taking
into consideration available technology, to properly use the
age signal and carries out other age assurance, if needed, as
proportionate to the risks presented to users by use of the
developer's applications.
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developer's applications.
Section 7. (a) The Attorney General shall have
exclusive authority to enforce the provisions of this act.
(b) Nothing in this act may be read to serve as the
basis for a private right of action under this act or any
other law.
(c) The Attorney General my initiate an action and seek
a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for
each violation of this act.
Section 8. This act shall become effective on January
1, 2027.
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