I write to make a case against HB 757, also known as the App Store Accountability Act. As the parent of a 5 and 9-year old, the last thing I want to do is lean against legislation meant to help young people. Just the same, parenting is too important to leave up to lawmakers and the legislation of good parental/child outcomes. Next, the legislation is superfluous. Everything in it meant to protect kids is already available to parents as is. Apple and Google devices provide parents with all manner of ways to limit screen time, vet apps added, not to mention the blurring of nude images along with the blocking of messages from unknown, potentially older people. Which is why the legislation is superfluous. Precisely because most parents don't need it given the myriad protections already afforded them, the danger of the legislation can be found in the parents who do need to be more vigilant. Laws create a false sense of security, simply put. If parents think the state is watching over their kids, they may be less likely to. It speaks to the danger of passing HB 757, no matter how well intentioned. I hope Virginia House members vote against the bill.

On behalf of the Institute for Family Studies, I am providing written feedback in support of HB 757. In essence, we urge the Subcommittee to move this bill forward because it is a common sense legislation. Contrary to what opponents say, this bill is not about restricting access to content; rather, it simply applies longstanding contracting requirements to tech companies and developers - namely, that corporations do not have a right to contract with minors without parental consent.

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My name is Melissa McKay. I’m a mother of five and a device and online safety expert. Since 2017, I’ve worked to protect children in the digital world. I’ve written Congressional testimony, led three national child-safety movements, and authored multiple coalition letters to Apple's Trust and Safety teams. This year, our coalition of over 170 child advocacy groups is supporting the App Store Accountability Act, a short, targeted bill that addresses three of the most exploitative issues in app stores. 1. Lack of Parental Consent for Binding App Contracts Nearly every app comes with sweeping terms of service contracts that allow companies to track users, sell their data, establish financial agreements, and often access their exact location or camera. In a recent case involving Snapchat, an adult predator was able to locate a 13-year-old victim using Snap maps, who was then sexually assaulted, even though she had told him on the app she didn’t want to meet in person. Trillion-dollar companies should not be able to broker underage children to other billion-dollar companies without parental oversight. App stores require parental consent for these contracts only for children under 12. This is absurd. In no other context are children allowed to enter into contracts of this magnitude without parental oversight. This bill restores parental oversight for all minors. 2. Deceptive App Age Ratings Unlike movies or video games, apps lack a third-party industry group to oversee their ratings. This leaves app stores to create their own confusing and inconsistent rating systems. Risks are often undisclosed, and misrepresentations are rarely punished. In a recent Wall Street Journal expose, researchers found hundreds of apps with inappropriate content that were rated for children over a 24-hour period. Those included apps for circumventing banned sites, violent or sexual games, and anonymous chat. ¼ of the total reviewed apps were misrated. Nowhere else in the world can you lie about content and get away with it. This bill creates enforcement that clearly ties these misrepresentations to deceptive advertising laws. 3. Responsibility for Age Verification App stores know almost everything about their users. They often have access to your age, address, payment methods, and personal preferences. Reading the app store privacy agreement feels about as private as a TSA body scan. In contrast, apps know nothing about a user when first downloaded, creating a dangerous asymmetry of information. Without verified age data, apps cannot effectively comply with federal laws like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) or implement age-appropriate safety defaults. Apple and Google are knowingly placing underage children in situations that expose them to harm and potentially violate federal laws. By neglecting their fiduciary duties, they should be liable. Our team has been working on this bill for years. It’s one of the most elegant solutions for addressing multiple online safety issues in one piece of legislation. I urge you to pass it.

I write in support of HB 757, commonly referred to as the App Store Accountability Act, because it is a pragmatic, privacy-first, child-centric solution, utilizing existing technologies, to one of the most pressing challenges of our time: protecting children and families in an increasingly complex and exploitative digital world. App stores serve as the central gatekeepers to how Virginia children interact on their devices, who use approximately 40 different apps per week. This unique position of App Stores makes them a natural and efficient doorway for implementing critical, commonsense protections, and for complying with basic contract law. I've attached my full letter of support. Sincerely, Chris McKenna CEO, Protect Young Eyes

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On behalf of Chamber of Progress, a tech industry association supporting public policies to build a society in which all people benefit from technological advances, I respectfully urge you to oppose HB 757, which would mandate intrusive age verification and parental consent requirements that undermine privacy, centralize sensitive personal data, and risk cutting young people off from essential online resources.

See attached for opposition comments to HB 757.

Please accept the attached testimony on behalf of the R Street Institute in opposition to HB 757.