HB317 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris SellsRepresentative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Consumer protection, app store providers and developers required to take certain actions related to age verification and parental consent, Attorney General authorized to bring action for violations as deceptive trade practice, parents authorized to bring civil action

Summary

HB317 would require app stores and developers to verify minors' ages, link minor accounts to parent accounts with consent, notify users of significant app changes, protect age data, and empower the Attorney General to enforce rules and penalties for violations.

What This Bill Does

The bill mandates age verification for app store accounts and affiliate minor accounts with parent accounts, obtaining verifiable parental consent before a minor can download, buy, or make in-app purchases. It requires developers to verify ages, notify users of significant changes, and limit how age-category data is used. It also protects age verification data, prohibits certain actions against minors, and authorizes the Attorney General to enforce the law with penalties, starting October 1, 2026.

Who It Affects

• Minors under 18 and their parents or guardians, because minor accounts must be linked to a parent account with verifiable parental consent and renewed consent for significant changes.
• App store providers and app developers operating in Alabama, who must implement age verification, data handling protections, parental-consent processes, and real-time data sharing with developers or face enforcement and penalties.

Key Provisions

• App store providers must verify user ages and affiliate minor accounts with a verifiable parent account.
• Parental consent must be obtained before a minor can download an app, purchase an app, or make an in-app purchase.
• Developers must verify user ages, notify users of significant changes to apps, and limit the use of age-category data to enforce age restrictions, comply with laws, or implement safety features.
• App store providers must notify users of significant changes; for minor accounts, they must notify the parent account holder and obtain renewed parental consent.
• Age verification data must be protected by limiting collection to what is necessary and using encryption to protect data.
• Neither app store providers nor developers may enforce contracts against minors without verifiable parental consent, misrepresent parental-consent disclosures, or share age-verification data beyond what the law or this act allows.
• The Attorney General must adopt rules for verifying whether an account holder is a minor and may bring action for deceptive trade practices with penalties up to $50,000 per violation, plus fees and costs; punitive damages may be sought for patterns of violating conduct.
• Developers and app store providers have safe harbor protections only to the extent provided by this act and do not limit other applicable law.
• The act becomes effective October 1, 2026.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Consumer Protection