Latest news with #SB142
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Following new Utah legislation, Sen. Mike Lee sponsors bill to protect kids online
Joined by Michigan Rep. John James, Utah Sen. Mike Lee this week introduced a bill that would work to increase safety for children online. The bill, titled the App Store Accountability Act, would require app stores to use privacy-protecting age verification and would link children's accounts to their parent's accounts, giving parents the final say on whether the minor can download or purchase apps. It would also require app stores to annually certify a user's age and prohibit the sale of age-related data collection. In an opinion piece for The Hill, Lee and Michael Toscano wrote that the legislation 'tackles the grave danger of apps systemically misleading parents with deceptive ratings, funneling millions of children toward dangerous and inappropriate content.' 'For too long, Big Tech has profited from app stores through which children in America and across the world access violent and sexual material while risking contact from online predators,' Lee said in the bill's press release. The senator promised this legislation would 'bring age verification and accountability to the source of the problem.' Under the same name, SB142 was signed into Utah law after the most recent legislative session, requiring app developers to verify a user's age category and confirm that the user's parent gave yearly consent to the app store. Utah's version also gives parents of harmed minors the right to sue developers if the app store violates the law's provisions. During a ceremonial signing by Gov. Spencer Cox on April 4, the bill sponsor, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, described the need for this kind of legislation in Utah. 'Everyone in this room knows, and every first year law school student knows, that kids can't enter contracts,' Weiler said. However, for decades, app stores have allowed children to do so. Weiler explained, 'Every time someone downloads an app or an app changes, and it pops up and says do you accept these terms and conditions, we're allowing our 11-year-olds, our 13-year-olds and our 15-year-olds to enter into binding contracts.' CNN reported that if Lee's bill were to be signed into law, app stores would need to inform app developers of the user's age, and Big Tech may see this as a win amid pressures to make the internet safer for children. After Weiler's bill was passed in Utah, Meta, X and Snap released a joint statement, saying, 'Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child's age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way. The app store is the best place for it.' The Salt Lake City-based think tank the Sutherland Institute expressed support for Lee's legislation in a press release Friday morning. 'We welcome the introduction of this common-sense measure to protect parents' ability to help their children navigate online commerce,' Bill Duncan, constitutional law and religious freedom fellow, said, according to the institute. 'This bill provides an appropriate and constitutional way to empower parents who want to help their children avoid harmful apps and unfair service contracts,' he added.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cox applauds bills taking aim at ‘destructive' apps and cellphones
Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson at a ceremonial signing event on tech safety bills at the Utah State Capitol on April 4, 2025 (Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch) In Milan Venegas' high school in Provo, students are already required to keep their cellphones tucked away in class. If they get caught scrolling their teacher places the phone into a magnetically locked box until the end of the school day. Despite some initial resistance from his classmates, Venegas said he's noticed some positive effects since the cellphone ban was established during the second semester of his senior year. He even learned the names of the kids sitting in front of him in his English class. 'They're really cool. They also had lots of great thoughts about what we were reading in our classes and all that stuff that I wish that we maybe had our first semester if they were not on their phones,' Venegas said after a news conference hosted by Gov. Spencer Cox. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The change came after lawmakers unveiled plans to pass a bill establishing a universal no-phone policy for all Utah public schools. That new policy is set to extend to schools across Utah, as a new law that bans students from using cellphones, smart watches or other emerging technology devices during classroom hours will take effect July 1. A cellphone ban in Utah schools is closer to reality with overwhelming support in Legislature In a ceremonial signature event for three tech safety bills, Cox, who has championed efforts to lower social media usage, especially among teens, said the bills have the potential to redefine the online landscape, not only in Utah but in the country. 'I remember getting criticism two years ago for our first social media bills, that we were trying to be a nanny state, to take power away from parents. And it's the exact opposite,' Cox said on Friday. 'What we are trying to do is to give parents and families back the power over these destructive and corrosive apps and cellphones.' During the event, Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson ceremoniously signed SB178, the bill that establishes a statewide cellphone ban policy — unless any school board decides otherwise. They also signed HB418, which directs social media companies to have a common data infrastructure, and SB142, a legislation that would require Google and Apple to verify the ages of their customers before they make app store purchases. With these new laws, Cox said, the state is aiming to empower Utahns in the online world, which he said is going in a worse direction with artificial intelligence providing even more tools to expand social media's addictive qualities. 'It's not just the anxiety, depression and self harm that I mentioned,' Cox said. 'But it's literally tearing us apart and the fabric of our country. It's making us hate each other as we get addicted to the outrage that is out there.' Sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, SB178 sets a statewide policy that prohibits students from using their cellphone during school hours. A few schools in Utah had policies banning cellphones, but Utah law didn't set a default policy, which,Fillmore argued, was itself a policy through inaction that allowed electronic devices. '(Constant notifications) turn school into, 'I am constantly under the fear of missing out on what is going on in the virtual world apart from me, I'm surrounded by my peers and friends in what is the most formative time in my life, and I'm focused on Taylor Swift,'' Fillmore said. The bill does allow school districts to implement their own phone policies. An earlier proposal initially sought $4.8 million in one-time money to fund equipment, such as magnetic locking pouches for the phones or other types of lockers to store phones during class time. However, lawmakers ultimately did not appropriate any money for the bill, with legislators expressing little appetite to pay for the equipment. While the bill still allows some flexibility for local school officials to set their own rules, Cox said it's one of the most important education policies approved in the state in the last decade. But, he said there's still some room for improvement. 'We didn't get 'bell to bell' here,' he said about other policies in other states that forbid phones during the whole school day. 'I just can't let this moment pass to say it is a mistake not to do 'bell to bell.' All of the research is 100% clear that 'bell to bell' does protect our kids so much more than going to recess and getting on your phones, going to lunch and immediately being back on your phones. So I hope we are not done here.' Cox said Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, made quite an impression for passing an unprecedented bill as a freshman. With HB418, Utah became the first state in the nation to adopt a law requiring social media platforms to have interoperability systems, meaning having the necessary infrastructure so customers can communicate and share data from different platforms, just like how cellphone companies allow users from different carriers to call each other and carry their phone numbers even if they switch companies. Utah's latest data and social media laws could 'change the world,' Gov. Cox says 'It's a shifting point. It is the turning point. It's a moment in history where we choose people over platforms, families over profits, the greater good over an unchecked algorithm. It's where we shift power back to where it always should remain, with the people with Utah', Fiefia said about his bill. Cox, who had already described the legislation as one with the potential 'to change the world,' praised the bill again on Friday. 'I don't think most people understand how groundbreaking this bill is. It is the first of its kind in the country,' Cox said. 'And it really does have the potential to change everything, to break up the monopolies, to give us, again, back our identity.' The bill takes effect in July 2026, which Fiefia said gives companies time to figure out how to achieve interoperability. Any first-year law school student learns that children can't legally sign contracts, said Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, who sponsored SB142, titled App Store Accountability Act. However, every time a minor downloads or updates an app, they are accepting binding terms and conditions. 'You might say, 'big deal,'' Weiler said on Friday. 'Well, these contracts … often (give) permission to collect their data, sometimes to access their microphone, even their cameras, to use their data, to sell their data.' His bill isn't about controlling content, Weiler added. It's about contracts. The bill mostly applies to Apple and Google, which run the country's two major app stores. Under the law, with some provisions set to become effective in May, the app stores will be required to collect guardians' information, who will then allow any identified minor to download an app requiring a terms of service agreement. Meta, X and Snap issued a joint statement supporting the legislation saying, 'parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child's age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way.' However, Kareem Ghanem, director of public policy at Google, one of the companies that will bear the responsibility to verify ages, said in a blog post that a series of legislative proposals pushed by Meta 'introduce new risks to the privacy of minors, without actually addressing the harms that are inspiring lawmakers to act.' Weiler's bill, Ghanem said, opens up the potential for bad actors to sell the data or use it for other 'nefarious purposes.' 'This level of data sharing isn't necessary — a weather app doesn't need to know if a user is a kid. By contrast, a social media app does need to make significant decisions about age-appropriate content and features,' Ghanem wrote. 'As written, however, the bill helps social media companies avoid that responsibility despite the fact that apps are just one of many ways that kids can access these platforms.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How will big tech comply with Utah's first-in-the-nation child protection laws?
Utah reasserted its place at the tip of the spear in the battle against Big Tech this legislative session with a pair of pioneering bills aimed at protecting parental consent and user data. Gov. Spencer Cox signed the state's first-in-the-nation App Store Accountability Act into law on Wednesday and praised the state's similarly unprecedented Data Sharing Amendments as a game changer. Critics of the proposals predict they will end up in the same place as Utah's earlier efforts in 2023 and 2024 to mandate social media safety features for minors which courts have paused out of constitutional concerns. Advocates argue that the Beehive State's latest attempt to rein in software giants is lawsuit-proof because of its focus on contracts instead of content. The new laws, they say, will give Utahns important tools to prevent exploitation at the hands of companies that profit from private information and unhealthy screen time. SB142, App Store Accountability Act, mirrors legislation introduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee at the federal level that was proposed by a coalition of child protection groups led by Utahn Melissa McKay. The new law will require app stores to verify whether a user is an adult, using the same information required to set up an app store account. Minor accounts must be affiliated with a parent account and will be placed in one of three age categories: child (under 13), younger teenager (13-16) or older teenager (16-18). App stores will be required to obtain verifiable parental consent if a minor attempts to download an app or make an in-app purchase. The consent process must inform parents of the app's age rating and a description of how the app will use and protect their child's information. 'This was kind of a radical new concept,' McKay said in an interview with the Deseret News. 'It took us a long time to realize it doesn't matter what we do as a coalition ... these companies aren't fixing themselves.' Under the new law, app developers will be required to verify a user's age category and parental consent status with app stores once a year or whenever the app's terms of use agreement is updated. The law also creates a new right of action for parents of harmed minors to sue app stores or developers if they violate these provisions by enforcing contracts against minors without parental consent, by misrepresenting the app when asking for consent or by sharing personal age verification data inappropriately. 'While we need to embrace technology as part of our future and as something important in our society, we also need to protect children,' said Aimee Winder Newton, director of Utah's Office of Families, in an interview with the Deseret News. 'And that's what's so great about Utah, is we recognize that protecting children is No. 1.' During the 2025 legislative session, the bill received the support of app developers, like Meta, Snap Inc., and X, who were happy to see the responsibility for verifying identity moved to one central location and called for other states to implement Utah's solution. 'Parents want a one-stop-shop to oversee and approve the many apps their teens want to download,' the three companies said in a joint statement. 'This approach spares users from repeatedly submitting personal information to countless individual apps and online services.' But the country's main app store companies, Apple and Google, were strongly against the bill and put forward their own proposals that would have made age verification between stores and developers optional. In a blog post following the bill's passage, Google's public policy director, Kareem Ghanem, said the bill introduced new privacy risks for minors by informing every developer of users' ages without parents' permission. Meanwhile, Apple also suggested that Utah's law forced app stores to unnecessarily collect and distribute 'sensitive personally identifying information.' Caden Rosenbaum, a senior policy analyst at the Utah-based Libertas Institute, told the Deseret News that the bill simply recodified current contract law while potentially compromising internet anonymity and expanding government interference in the private sector and in the home. 'In an ideal world, the government would not be in the business of parenting. I think that is the fundamental disagreement here,' Rosenbaum said. 'There are relevant issues that we need to discuss and we shouldn't be just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks when it comes to the way that we do it.' Rosenbaum questioned the bill's ability to survive constitutional scrutiny. But the sponsor of the legislation, state Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said he doesn't expect the law to receive the same fate as the state's previous attempts to regulate minors' experience on social media. Unlike those policies, SB142 is difficult to attack on First Amendment grounds, Weiler said. But the bill was given a delayed implementation date of May 6, 2026, to give the social media companies 'time to react.' Several other states, including Texas, are likely to pass legislation based on Utah's this year and could receive legal challenges first because of earlier implementation dates. On the final night of the legislative session, Cox praised Weiler's bill while also giving recognition to HB418, sponsored by Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, which he has yet to sign. 'This was a top priority of our administration,' Cox said. 'I can't underscore how big this is; I don't think people really understand what this could do if we could get it done in other states and as a nation.' HB418, Data Sharing Amendments, reaffirms an individual's right to control the data social media companies collect on them by requiring companies to provide or delete this data upon request. It will also mandate that social media companies remove barriers that prevent users from sharing their own data, like followers, posts and messages, from one platform to another to prevent companies from guarding user data. Once signed, the law will require social media companies to develop 'accessible, prominent, and persistent' methods for getting consent to share personal data with any third-party. The Division of Consumer Protection will be empowered to fine bad actors up to $2,500 for each violation or to bring a legal motion to enforce the law. 'This bill isn't about punishing businesses, but it does challenge exploitative business models that rely on unchecked data harvesting,' Fiefia told the Deseret News. 'There are still plenty of sustainable, responsible ways to innovate and succeed without compromising individual rights.' For countless Utah parents, legislative efforts to hold social media accountable are 'very encouraging,' according to Jenna Baker, a Heber City resident studying for a masters in public health. As the mother of four children between 7 and 16, Baker said watching the impact of social media on the country's youngest and most vulnerable has been 'heart-wrenching.' 'It's so disheartening because I wonder how many tragedies could have been avoided if we would have had this conversation 15 years prior,' Baker said. Baker said she hopes the new laws are just the beginning for public policy that seeks to help parents manage a problem that looks much more like a public health crisis than a moral panic over new technology. While the responsibility for a child's experience on a phone ultimately comes down to the parent, Baker said that additional tools to level the playing field with huge corporations are long overdue. 'It's now like, how do we pick up the pieces and move forward so that our youth have a brighter and more healthy future?' Baker said.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Governor inks $127M income tax cut, bill phasing out automatic vote-by-mail
Gov. Spencer Cox inked an additional 100 bills Wednesday, codifying $127 million in income tax cuts and reforms to the state's vote-by-mail system, and adding protections for children downloading apps. The latest tranche of bill signings brings the total to 476 of the 582 bills passed this year by lawmakers. Cox did not issue any vetoes Wednesday, after exercising the power on bills dealing with property tax collection and the selection of the state Supreme Court chief each of the prior two days. He has until Thursday to sign or veto the remaining hundred or so proposals. Not included in the bills signed were several proposals that have drawn calls for a veto, including bills banning gay pride flags and others from being flown on public buildings. Here's what the governor approved Wednesday: Lawmakers approved the fifth consecutive cut to the state's income tax rate, reducing it from 4.55% to 4.5% for individuals and businesses. That amounts to savings of about $45 per year for the typical family at a $127 million cost to the state. The Legislature also expanded the child tax credit and raised the income cap for older adults to receive tax relief on Social Security benefits. With Cox's signature, an additional 90,000 Utahns will no longer be taxed on those benefits, something he said he was "proud" to do. "As our population ages, it's critical that we do more to support older Utahns and the families who care for them," Cox stated. "This tax relief is a practical way to recognize the contributions of those who helped build the strong, prosperous state we have today." He called the income tax cuts "a step forward in delivering meaningful tax relief for Utahns." "With this bill and others passed this session, Utahns will see $148 million in new tax cuts," the governor added. "And since I've taken office, we've delivered more than $1.3 billion in historic, permanent tax relief — helping more Utah families build lasting prosperity right here in Utah." Cox also approved HB300, a big election reform bill that will effectively phase out automatic vote-by-mail over the next several years and require voters to write the final four digits of their state ID on their ballot. Voters will still be able to use mail-in voting but will need to opt-in by 2029 to continue receiving a ballot in the mail. The bill also requires mailed ballots be received by county clerks no later than 8 p.m. on election night in order to count. The bill was subject to much deliberation, and further tweaks to proposals are likely in coming legislative sessions as lawmakers iron out any wrinkles in the legislation. HB300 takes effect May 7. A bill that would require app stores to verify users' ages and prevent minors from entering into contracts without parental permission is the latest effort by Utah lawmakers to protect young Utahns online. SB142 was praised by major social media companies and parents of children who have struggled with mental health. It would require major app stores to enforce age ratings on certain apps, an approach lawmakers hope protects children from inappropriate material online. Three of the major social media platforms — Meta, X and Snap — issued a joint statement Wednesday applauding Cox "and the state of Utah for being the first in the nation to empower parents and users with greater control over teen app downloads, and (we) urge other states to consider this groundbreaking approach." HB465 was approved by Cox on Tuesday, codifying a policy to require Salt Lake City to sign a public safety and policing agreement with the state Department of Public Safety or risk losing state funds. The bill stems from years of frustration from Republican lawmakers who criticized how the state's capital city is policed, and after legislative leaders and the governor sent Mayor Erin Mendenhall a letter expressing displeasure with policing "inadequacies." Mendenhall has said she would like to partner more with the state on policing issues but called the bill "coercive," "unnecessary and damaging to the trust that should be built between our levels of government," during a House committee hearing last month. Speaking with reporters last week, the mayor expressed appreciation for the bill sponsor's willingness to negotiate "potential penalties" in the policy. 'We want to work with DPS (the Utah Department of Public Safety),' she said. 'We need to have these partnerships, and we need them to be strengthened — meaning they're going to look different than they have in the past, and we want that. So, I maintain that this bill was unnecessary to require that of us, and I think that's how we were able to get the bill sponsor to pull back on the punishment end of it.'
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utah's latest data and social media laws could ‘change the world,' Gov. Cox says
Utah lawmakers passed laws requiring app stores to verify the age of their customers, and social media companies to share more data. (Photo by) Utah lawmakers passed two first-of-a-kind bills this legislative session that take aim at social media and tech companies. One of them has the potential to 'change the world,' Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in the early morning hours Saturday, after lawmakers officially wrapped up the 45-day legislative session. 'I mean that sincerely, we're the first state to do it. It may be the most important thing we've done for a generation,' Cox said, pointing to freshman Rep. Doug Feifia, R-Herriman. Cox was referring to Feifia's HB418, which could dramatically change the way social media companies interact with their customers, directing them to create a data sharing system similar to how different cell phone carriers operate — an AT&T customer can call a Verizon customer, and Feifia thinks that standard should apply to social media. And Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, sponsored SB142 which would require Google and Apple to verify the ages of their customers before they make app store purchases. In the early days of cell phones, customers often couldn't communicate with people on different networks. For instance, AT&T customers could only call people with AT&T phone plans — and if they wanted to switch carriers, they couldn't take their number with them. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, cell phone carriers moved towards interoperability, which essentially means communicating and sharing data from different platforms. Fiefia is hoping to push social media companies in a similar direction. 'That's what we're seeing done in tech today, they have what we're calling walled gardens,' said Feifia. 'They've locked us into their platform, and essentially we can only call and communicate with those who are within that platform.' His bill, HB418, passed the legislature this year with bipartisan support, making Utah the first state to approve a law pushing social media companies towards interoperability. Today, your cellphone number belongs to you. If you want to switch carriers, you don't need to switch numbers. And you can call whoever you want, regardless of their phone plan. Feifia's bill, in a way, directs tech companies to view your personal data similar to how telecommunication companies view your phone number. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Under Feifia's bill, if you want to leave a social media platform, you can take your data with you. If you want to communicate or share content with people on a different platform, you can. If you want to leave a platform, you can make sure the platform isn't still using your data for advertising purposes. It might sound like a big ask for social media companies, but Fiefia says it's something they already do. The bill centers around what's called an interoperability interface, an existing idea that allows different systems to work together, share data and communicate. It's basically what already exists on Meta's platforms, where users can connect their Facebook and Instagram accounts. 'It's something that is already being used, and a lot of tech companies are already moving that direction,' he said on Tuesday. 'We're kind of just speeding that process up and also giving back ownership of data back to users.' What exactly that would look like is still unclear, and mostly up to tech companies. The bill takes effect in July 2026, which Fiefia said gives companies time to figure out how to achieve interoperability. Users could have a personal identification number that links their various social media accounts, Users could also have multiple account numbers if, for instance, they don't want to connect their LinkedIn page with an anonymous X account. The mechanics behind how they get there is up to the companies, as long as the interface does the following: If you build a network of friends, messages and posts on one platform, you should be able to transfer that information to another platform. Tech companies currently don't do that because they want to keep users locked in, Fiefia said. Users should be able to share content across different platforms without what Fiefia calls 'unnecessary restrictions.' If someone doesn't want a tech company to keep their data when they leave, they should be able to remove it completely. Most of the bill revolves around a user's consent. They should be able to download or port their data, or move it onto another platform if they don't agree with their existing platform's ideology, safety measures or other terms or conditions. If a tech company wants to do anything with your data, it needs your consent first. 'It allows the user to decide what happens with their data and information, versus being stuck and losing all of it once TikTok shuts down, for example,' Fiefia said. Fiefia's bill received an endorsement from Jonathan Haidt, the author of the book 'The Anxious Generation,' which examines the impact smartphones and social media have on teen mental health. And Cox, on the final day of the legislative session, said it was one of the most exciting bills this year. 'I don't even know if the Legislature really understands how groundbreaking that piece of legislation is. I mean, this is getting attention all over the world,' said Cox in an interview with Utah News Dispatch on Friday. It's the first bill of its kind to pass through a state legislature. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, has proposed similar legislation at the federal level, although it has not been voted on yet. Six other states are considering bills that mirror Fiefia's. 'These tech companies, they are taking our data and information, informing an algorithm and using that to sell it to advertisers for billions of dollars,' Fiefia said. 'They are literally trading our free will for profit margin, and I think it's something that needs to change.' Lawmakers also took aim at app stores this year, passing the first bill in the country requiring app stores to verify the ages of customers. Sponsored by Weiler, SB142 nearly passed unanimously, receiving just one 'no' vote in the Senate and three in the House. The bill mostly targets Apple and Google, which run the country's two major app stores, requiring them to verify a user's age. Weiler said companies could use a credit card as age verification. If the user is identified as a minor, the bill would require the app store to tie their account to a parent or guardian's account — the minor would need parental approval before they download any app that requires a terms of service agreement. Those terms of service agreements are binding contracts that allow app developers to access the device's data, microphone, camera and more — in no other circumstance are minors allowed to enter into a binding contract, said Weiler, comparing it to letting a child sign a rental car agreement. He described it as 'a contract bill.' 'Those terms and conditions can give that company access to their camera, their microphone. They're consenting that their data can be collected and shared,' Weiler said earlier in the session. Unlike past social media laws, some of the country's largest tech companies were on board with Weiler's bill. 'We applaud Utah for putting parents in charge with its landmark legislation and urge Congress to follow suit,' reads a joint statement from Meta, X and Snap. 'Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child's age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way,' the companies said. 'The app store is the best place for it, and more than a quarter of states have introduced bills recognizing the central role app stores play.' Weiler's bill also creates a private right of action, holding developers accountable if they misrepresent the app's content, allowing parents to bring legal action under Utah's deceptive advertising laws. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
