Public Safety
Ohio app stores would need age checks before downloads
Senator Tom Patton’s proposal would push age signals into the software layer and require developers to use them when apps are installed, opened or updated.
Ohio lawmakers are weighing a new gate for kids’ app access. The bill would require age verification and parental consent for covered apps, with the attorney general enforcing the rules and collecting penalties.
- Age checks would move into app stores and software updates.
- Parents or guardians would have to give consent for covered access.
- Developers would have to request age data before certain app use.
- The attorney general would enforce the rules, with penalties funding consumer protection work.
- For families, this is about the first tap on a phone, not an abstract debate over technology law
For families, this is about the first tap on a phone, not an abstract debate over technology law. Ohio’s proposal would amend Section 1349.07 of the Ohio Revised Code to add verification requirements for software applications, so age and consent become part of the path into covered apps before a child gets access.
The bill is built around the software layer where people actually find and open apps. It defines a covered application store as a public software store that distributes apps directly to consumers, and it defines an application as software that runs on a computer, phone, game console or similar device.
What the companies would have to build
The measure puts the first compliance burden on operating-system providers and developers. Providers would have to build an account-setup screen that asks for a user’s date of birth, age, or both, then send what the bill calls an age signal, which is age-bracket data that developers can use when deciding whether an app can open.
Developers would have to request that signal when an app is downloaded, launched or goes through significant updates. The idea is that the check follows the app as it changes, instead of stopping at one signup screen and assuming the job is done.
The bill also tries to keep the information flow narrow. It says the minimum information needed should be shared, not a wider pile of personal data.
Where parents fit in
The proposal defines an account holder as an adult in Ohio, a parent or legal guardian of a minor user, or an emancipated minor. It also leaves out some parents, including those who do not own or control the relevant account and some parents in shared-parenting or visitation situations described in the measure.
That matters because the new rule is not just a technical filter. It creates a formal role for parents and guardians before a minor can use covered software, while also telling companies which adults can actually act for the child.
The attorney general would have sole authority to enforce the rules, and civil penalties would go into the consumer protection enforcement fund to pay for that office’s consumer protection work. Available key vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.