[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4349 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4349
To ensure responsible age assurance practices within the mobile
ecosystem, particularly concerning the protection of minors, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 20, 2026
Mr. Moran (for himself and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure responsible age assurance practices within the mobile
ecosystem, particularly concerning the protection of minors, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Parents Over
Platforms Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--APPLICATION DISTRIBUTION PROVIDER AND DEVELOPER
RESPONSIBILITIES
Sec. 101. Age assurance.
Sec. 102. Application distributor and developer obligations.
TITLE II--LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 201. Limitations on liability.
Sec. 202. Enforcement.
Sec. 203. Preemption.
Sec. 204. Severability.
Sec. 205. Effective date.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Adult.--The term ``adult'' means an account holder who
is or is estimated to be 18 years of age or older.
(2) Age category.--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.
(3) Age signal.--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.
(4) Application.--
(A) In general.--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.
(B) Exclusions.--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.
(5) Application distributor.--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.
(6) Application distribution provider.--The term
``application distribution provider'' means an entity, company,
or organization that owns, operates, or controls an application
distributor.
(7) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(8) Connected device.--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.
(9) Covered application.--
(A) In general.--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.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``covered application''
does not include an internet browser or online search
engine.
(10) Covered website.--
(A) In general.--The term ``covered website'' means
a website that provides a URL-accessible or web version
of a covered application.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``covered website'' does
not include an internet browser or online search
engine.
(11) Developer.--The term ``developer'' means any person,
entity, company, or organization that creates, owns, or
controls an application.
(12) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an account holder who
is or is estimated to be under the age of 18.
(13) Personalized advertising.--
(A) In general.--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.
(B) Exclusion.--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.
TITLE I--APPLICATION DISTRIBUTION PROVIDER AND DEVELOPER
RESPONSIBILITIES
SEC. 101. AGE ASSURANCE.
(a) Responsibilities of Application Distribution Providers.--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.
(b) Rules of Construction.--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.
SEC. 102. APPLICATION DISTRIBUTOR AND DEVELOPER OBLIGATIONS.
(a) Application Distribution Providers.--
(1) Obligations.--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.
(2) Rule of construction.--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.
(b) Developers of Covered Applications.--
(1) In general.--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.
(2) Commercially reasonable effort.--
(A) In general.--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.
(B) Exception.--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.
(c) Special Rules.--
(1) Common control.--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.
(2) Applicability to covered websites.--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.
TITLE II--LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.
(a) Application Distribution Providers.--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.
(b) Developers.--
(1) Sole liability for determining whether an application
is a covered application.--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.
(2) Erroneous age signal.--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.
SEC. 202. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.--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)).
(b) Powers of the Commission.--
(1) In general.--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.
(2) Privileges and immunities.--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.).
(3) Authority preserved.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any
other provision of law.
SEC. 203. PREEMPTION.
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.
SEC. 204. SEVERABILITY.
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.
SEC. 205. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the date that is 2 years after the
date of its enactment.
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