Parents Over Platforms Act

The term adult means an account holder who is or is estimated to be 18 years of age or older.

The term age category means categorization of an individual based on age or estimated age, including a description of the user as a minor, an adult, or as being within a given age range.

The term age signal means a signal that indicates an account holder’s age category, which the account holder or the account holder’s parent has agreed to share.

The term application means a software program that is—

(i) 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

(ii) distributed through an application distribution provider.

The term application does not include—

(i) websites or internet browser extensions; or

(ii) software with a primary purpose of extending the functionality of an internet browser.

The term application distributor —

(A) means a software application that distributes applications from developers to users of a connected device; and

(B) does not include an internet browser.

The term application distribution provider means an entity, company, or organization that owns, operates, or controls an application distributor.

The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.

The term connected device means a smartphone, tablet, gaming console, or virtual reality device that enables users to connect to the internet and download applications.

The term covered application —

(i) means an application—

(I) that is not an application distributor; and

(II) for which a developer provides, whether legally required or not—

(aa) a different experience for adults than for minors; or

(bb) an experience that is intended only for adults; and

(ii) includes an application for which a developer provides different account types, content, or features, or engages in different advertising or data practices, depending on a user’s age.

The term covered application does not include an internet browser or online search engine.

The term covered website means a website that provides a URL-accessible or web version of a covered application.

The term covered website does not include an internet browser or online search engine.

The term developer means any person, entity, company, or organization that creates, owns, or controls an application.

The term minor means an account holder who is or is estimated to be under the age of 18.

The term personalized advertising means the displaying of an advertisement to an account holder that is selected based on personal data obtained from the account holder’s activities over time and across non-affiliated websites or online applications to predict such account holder’s preferences or interests.

The term personalized advertising does not include—

(i) advertising based on an account holder’s activities within a developer’s own application or applications;

(ii) advertising based on the context of an account holder’s current interaction with an application;

(iii) advertising directed to an account holder in response to the account holder’s direct request for information or feedback; or

(iv) the processing of personal data solely for measuring or reporting advertising performance, reach, or frequency.

An application distribution provider—

(1) shall ask account holders to declare their age when creating an account with the application distribution provider;

(2) may use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the age category of an account holder with a reasonable level of certainty;

(3) may provide account holders with a mechanism to obtain their age category and the ability to request an update if they believe their age category is incorrect; and

(4) shall 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 share such age signal.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to—

(1) preclude an application distribution provider from using multiple commercially reasonable methods to obtain, estimate, or provide the age category of an account holder; or

(2) restrict an application distribution provider’s ability to satisfy the requirements of this section by obtaining a minor account holder’s age from the minor’s parent.

An application distribution provider shall do the following:

(A) Provide a minor account holder’s parent with the ability to prevent the minor from acquiring or using a developer’s covered application from the application distributor.

(B) Provide developers with the ability to provide information regarding their relevant parental controls for a covered application through a centralized product page or user interface, hosted by the application distribution provider, that provides relevant information about a covered application.

(C) Comply with the obligations described in subsection (b) with respect to any covered applications for which the application distribution provider is also the developer.

(D) Not use data collected from third-party covered applications in the course of compliance with this section to give the application distribution provider's own applications preference relative to those of third parties, or to otherwise use such data in an anti-competitive manner.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an application distribution provider from creating a user interface or centralized page for minor account holders' parents to block categories by age rating of covered applications based on the content and features of the covered application.

A developer of a covered application shall do the following:

(A) Report to the application distribution provider whether the application of the developer provides a different experience for adult users than for minor users or is intended only for adults.

(B) With respect to any covered application that is authorized to be used by a minor, provide information regarding privacy and online safety settings to help parents support minors using such application.

(C) Use commercially reasonable efforts to determine whether a user is an adult or a minor with a reasonable level of certainty in accordance with paragraph (2).

(D) Make a reasonable effort to ensure that users who are minors cannot engage in any activity that has been restricted by the developer for adults only.

(E) Obtain consent prior to permitting minor account holders from accessing a covered application or portion thereof that the developer has designated as unsuitable for use by minors without parental guidance or supervision, or from accessing content that is age-gated by law.

(F) Not deliver personalized advertising to minors.

(G) With respect to an age signal requested by a developer from an application distribution provider regarding use of a covered application, the developer—

(i) shall request the minimum amount of information needed for purposes of compliance with this Act;

(ii) may not willfully disregard any information regarding an individual’s age or age category that is otherwise available to the developer;

(iii) may not share the information obtained from the age signal with third parties, except for a service provider, but only if necessary for such service provider to implement safety measures or privacy protections for minors or otherwise required to do so by law; and

(iv) may not use the age signal for any purpose beyond that intended by this Act, including using the age signal to obtain or attempt to obtain a user’s date of birth.

(H) In the event that a developer uses a method other than an age signal provided by an application distribution provider to satisfy the requirements of this section, the developer—

(i) shall request the minimum amount of information needed for purposes of compliance with this Act;

(ii) may not willfully disregard any information regarding an individual’s age or age category that is available to the developer;

(iii) may not share the information obtained in the course of complying with this section with third parties, except for a service provider, but only if necessary for such service provider to implement safety measures or privacy protections for minors or otherwise required to do so by law; and

(iv) may not use age data for any purpose beyond that intended by this Act, including using age data to obtain or attempt to obtain a user’s date of birth.

Subject to subparagraph (B), for the purposes paragraph (1)(C), an age signal provided to a developer by an application distribution provider shall be considered a commercially reasonable effort.

With respect to an application that is intended only for adults and is required by law to restrict access to adults, an age signal provided to a developer by an application distribution provider that indicates a user is—

(i) a minor shall be a sufficient basis to block access to such application; or

(ii) an adult shall not, by itself, satisfy the requirement to determine whether a user is an adult with a reasonable level of certainty, including for purposes of other laws that require access restrictions based on age.

If a developer and an application distribution provider are controlled by the same entity, the developer may rely on age determinations made by that entity.

A developer of a covered website shall have the same requirements as a developer of a covered application under this Act and may carry over or repurpose an age signal received from an application distribution provider under section 101(a)(4) to fulfill such requirements with respect to the developer's covered website.

An application distribution provider that makes a good faith effort to comply with the obligations of this Act (as determined by the Commission or a court 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, the following with regard to facilitation of the provision of an age signal:

(1) Any erroneous age signal.

(2) Any conduct by a developer of a covered application that receives any age signal.

(3) Failing to provide an age signal due to any reasonable technical limitations or outages that prevent the provision of the age signal upon request.

(4) Not providing the age signal to developers that do not adhere to reasonable safety standards and application distribution provider policies.

A developer shall be solely responsible for correctly identifying whether an application of the developer is a covered application under this Act. No application distribution provider is required to proactively identify a covered application, and an application distribution provider shall not be held liable in cases where a developer provides inaccurate information about its applications.

A developer of a covered application shall not be liable for an erroneous age signal provided by an application distribution provider if the developer makes a reasonable effort, taking into consideration available technology, to properly use the age signal and carry out commercially reasonable methods to obtain or estimate the age of an account holder.

A violation of this Act or a regulation promulgated thereunder shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)).

The Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.

Any person who violates this Act or a regulation promulgated thereunder shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.

No State or political subdivision of a State may maintain, enforce, prescribe, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law of any State, or political subdivision of a State, related to the provisions of this Act.

If any provision of this Act or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act shall be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

This Act shall take effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of its enactment.