App Store Age Verification and Parental Consent Law (commonly called the Alabama App Store Accountability Act)
AL App Store Act
Children · Other
Requires app stores to request and verify the age category (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, 18+) of Alabama account holders, link minors' accounts to a parent account, and obtain verifiable parental consent before a minor downloads or buys an app or makes in-app purchases. Developers must check age category and consent status through the app store and may use that data only for age-related protections and legal compliance. Age verification data must be minimized and encrypted.
- Where
- Alabama
- Citation
- Ala. Code §§ 8-19K-1 to 8-19K-14 (Act 2026-59, HB161)
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- In force since
- 2027-01-01
- Enforced by
- Alabama Attorney General (exclusive jurisdiction under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act)
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Knowing or reckless violations are deceptive trade practices; the Attorney General may seek civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation plus attorney fees and costs, and punitive damages for a consistent pattern of knowing or reckless conduct. Actions must be brought within one year of when the AG knew or should have known of the violation. Good-faith safe harbors apply to developers and to app stores that generate an erroneous age signal despite a commercially reasonable process.
- Applies to
- App store providers: entities that own, operate, or control an app store that lets Alabama account holders download apps onto mobile devices
- Developers: entities that own or control an app offered through an app store, or a pre-installed app
- Protects minors, defined as individuals under 18 who are not married or emancipated
What a privacy notice must say
- After a developer reports a significant change, notify the user and, for minor accounts, notify the parent and obtain renewed consent.Ala. Code § 8-19K-4 · From 2027-01-01
Practices it requires
- Developers may use age category data only to enforce age-related restrictions and safety features or to comply with law, must apply the lowest age category they have, and may not share age category data with anyone.Ala. Code § 8-19K-9(a)(3), (a)(5), (c)(3) · From 2027-01-01
- For minors, require affiliation with a parent account, obtain verifiable parental consent before any app download, app purchase, or in-app purchase, and let parents withdraw consent.Ala. Code § 8-19K-3 · Only if: User determined to be a minor · From 2027-01-01
- Request age category information and verify it by a commercially available method or an AG-approved system when an Alabama account is created, and for existing accounts by October 1, 2027.Ala. Code § 8-19K-2 · From 2027-01-01
- App stores may not share age category data with developers except as the chapter or other law requires, and may not enforce terms of service against a minor without parental consent.Ala. Code § 8-19K-8 · From 2027-01-01
- Developers must verify age category and parental consent status through the app store at download, purchase, first launch of a pre-installed app, and significant changes, and must notify app stores of significant changes.Ala. Code § 8-19K-9(a)(1)-(2), (4) · From 2027-01-01
Security duties
- App stores must limit collection of personal age verification data to what is needed to verify age, obtain consent, or keep compliance records, and transmit it with industry-standard encryption.Ala. Code § 8-19K-6 · From 2027-01-01
Sources
- Official text
- Ala. Code ch. 8-19K (Code of Alabama, Alabama Legislature ALISON)
- HB161 (2026 Regular Session), enrolled text, Act 2026-59
- Act 2026-59 detail, Alabama Secretary of State (approved February 17, 2026)
- WSFA, 'US Supreme Court upholds app store age verification law months before Alabama law takes place' (July 8, 2026) (secondary, litigation status)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: The name 'App Store Accountability Act' comes from secondary sources; the enrolled act does not use that title. | The legislature's bill title mentions a parental civil action, but the codified text (Ala. Code § 8-19K-11) gives the Attorney General exclusive jurisdiction; no private right was found in the enacted sections. | No lawsuit against the Alabama law was found; this relies on secondary reporting (WSFA, July 8, 2026), not a docket search. The AG rules required by Ala. Code § 8-19K-10 had not been located.
Research reference, not legal advice.