Starting in January 2026, a new state law in Texas – SB2420 – introduces age security requirements for app marketplaces and developers. While we share the goal of strengthening children’s online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 affects users’ privacy by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information for every app downloaded, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores. Apple will continue to provide parents and developers with industry-leading tools that help improve child safety and protect privacy within the constraints of the law.
When this law goes into effect, users in Texas who create a new Apple account must confirm whether they are 18 years of age or older. All new Apple accounts for users under the age of 18 are required to join a Family Sharing group, and parents or guardians must provide consent for all App Store downloads, app purchases, and transactions using Apple’s in-app purchase system by the minor. This will also affect developers, who will have to adopt new capabilities and change behavior in their apps to meet their obligations under the law. Similar requirements will go into effect in Utah and Louisiana later next year.
Today, we’re sharing details about updates we’re making and the tools we’re providing to help developers meet these new requirements.
To help developers meet their obligations in a privacy-preserving manner, we will introduce capabilities to help them obtain users’ age ranges and manage significant changes as required by Texas state law. The Declared Age Range API is available to implement now, and will be updated in the coming months to provide the required age ranges for new account users in Texas. And new APIs launching later this year will allow developers, if they detect a significant change is being made to their app, to invoke a system experience to allow the user to request that parental consent be re-obtained. In addition, parents can withdraw consent for a minor to continue using an app. More details, including additional technical documentation, will be released later this fall.
We know that protecting children from online threats requires constant vigilance and effort. That’s why we’ll continue to create industry-leading features to help developers provide age-appropriate experiences and protect privacy in their apps and games, and empower parents with a comprehensive set of tools to keep their kids safe online.