Governor Abbott of Texas signed off on their own Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA. This one requires age-verification on the Apple and Google App stores. This will then also drive a need for parental approval before downloading apps for making in-app purchases. Pushback from Apple includes concerns over the idea of apps that don’t have a perceived negative impact, like weather or sports scores. In the spirit of protecting not only kids, but parents pocketbooks from rampant spending, I like this. On the other hand, this throws a lot of complex and disruptive red tape into a mix where a better solution may have been available. Apple already installed features to prevent the under 13 crowd, so perhaps tinkering instead of thrashing?
Under the new law, minors will need parental approval before they can download apps or make in-app purchases.
Found at www.bbc.com
