Substitute for bill on app age verification advances; sponsors propose age bands, OS‑level checks and parental control of 'age signals'

Summary

The committee accepted substitute Bill 954‑7 as the working document; the substitute uses age bands (13–15, 16–17, 18+), requires operating‑system‑level age verification rather than app‑store checks, allows developers to supply a developer age signal when information conflicts, and requires parental consent to share age signals, sponsors said.

Senator Patton moved to accept substitute Bill 954‑7 as the working document and described the substitute's core changes.

The substitute replaces a single 'by‑18' age category with multiple age bands (sponsor example phrased the bands as at least 13 and 16; at least 16 and 18; and 18 and over) intended to tailor protections and features by narrower age ranges. The substitute requires age verification at the operating‑system level rather than at the app‑store level and requires parental consent before an operating system shares an age signal with applications. Senator Patton said the bill permits developers to use a developer age signal when there is conflicting age information.

Patton told the committee the proposal "does not have the same First Amendment concerns as the App Store Accountability Act" and said major platforms including Meta, Snap and Google have expressed support for the concepts in the language.

The committee accepted the substitute as the working document. No additional testimony from platform representatives was recorded in the transcript.

Next steps: substitute Bill 954‑7 will proceed as the working document for further committee consideration.