Safety Over Bans: Internet Society Challenges App Store Age Verificat…

Internet Society filed an amicus brief challenging Texas's HB 2420, which requires government ID verification before downloading apps and parental consent for users under 18. The brief argues the law creates privacy and security risks without improving child safety, citing recent breaches and proposing alternative age-verification approaches. If you build apps or operate an app store, Texas just mandated you collect government IDs from every user, starting immediately; this brief signals the rule is under legal challenge in federal court, but compliance costs and data liability have shifted overnight either way. The court's Fifth Circuit decision will likely set precedent for other states—you're now watching who wins the argument between state child-safety mandates and the privacy costs of enforcement.