Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed the App Store Accountability Act ("the Act") into law, instituting sweeping new obligations regarding age verification and parental consent for app stores and app developers operating in Texas. The law takes effect on January 1, 2026, giving impacted businesses only months to implement its requirements. The scope of the law is broad and imposes significant compliance requirements on app developers in addition to app stores. Companies should carefully review the Act to determine if they are subject to the new law and begin preparing for its implementation.
Below we provide a high-level breakdown of this framework, including the Act's key definitions, responsibilities for app stores and developers serving Texas residents, and enforcement.
Key Definitions
The Act applies to both app stores and app developers. Here are the key definitions to help companies determine whether they are covered by the Act:
- App store refers to "a publicly available Internet website, software application, or other electronic service that distributes software applications from the owner or developer of a software application to the user of a mobile device." This may include platforms offering in-app downloads or games not typically marketed as app stores.
- Developer refers to a "developer of a software application that the developer makes available to users in [Texas] through an app store." Notably, there is no size or revenue threshold for developers under this Act.
- Mobile device refers to "a portable, wireless electronic device, including a tablet or smartphone, capable of transmitting, receiving, processing, and storing information wirelessly that runs an operating system designed to manage hardware resources and perform common services for software applications on handheld electronic devices."
Obligations for App Stores
Under the Act, app stores must verify the ages of users in Texas, obtain parental consent for minors, and transmit this information to developers.
The Act requires app stores to implement a "commercially reasonable method" to verify users' ages and categorize them into four groups: child (under 13), younger teenager (13-15), older teenager (16-17), and adult (18 or older). The Act classifies individuals in the first three categories as "minors." Notably, this covers teenagers that are not subject to the primary federal children's privacy law, COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).
App stores must then ensure each minor's account is linked to a "parent" account, using a "commercially reasonable method" to verify that the designated parent or guardian is an adult and has legal authority to make decisions on behalf of the minor. The app store must obtain consent from the parent or guardian before allowing the minor to download, purchase any software application, or make any in-app purchase, except for certain emergency and educational applications. The Act expressly prohibits obtaining blanket consent for multiple downloads or purchases; a parent must consent to each transaction individually.
App stores also must securely transmit age and consent information to developers, update developers when consent is revoked, update parents when a developer changes a software application, and display age category ratings for each application.
Obligations for Developers
The Act imposes corresponding requirements on app developers. Developers must create and implement their own systems to use the information received from app stores to verify age and whether parental consent was obtained for minor users where required by the Act. Developers may only use this data for age-related restrictions, and once a developer ensures compliance, it must delete an individual's personal data.
While app stores can develop their own rating systems under the Act, developers must provide app stores with an age category rating for each software application and purchase that can be made through an application and an explanation of each rating.
Finally, developers must notify applicable app stores before making any significant change to their terms of service or privacy policy so that the app stores can acquire renewed parental consent.
Enforcement
Violation of this Act constitutes a "deceptive trade practice" under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. This authorizes the Texas Attorney General to bring enforcement actions against noncompliant companies, and consumers can bring private suits seeking damages.
Texas is among a growing number of states to institute laws protecting minors in digital services, but the Act is uniquely broad within this regulatory sphere. The unique requirement of this law will require in-scope companies to work quickly to implement its requirements before the January 1, 2026 effective date.
Emily Kohn, a Wiley 2025 Summer Associate, contributed to this alert.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
