May 30, 2025

Industry News 

New York Attorney General Issues Guidance on New York Child Data Protection Act- becomes effective on June 20, 2025 (NY AG Office) Read more >>

Nebraska Governor Pillen’s Bill to Protect Kids Online Passes. The bill is set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
 (Press Release) Read more >>

Vermont Governor Expected to Let Kids Code Bill Become Law (Privacy Daily) Read more >>

Texas governor signs law to enforce age verification on Apple, Google app stores (Reuters) Read more >>

Apple Hits Back At Texas Online Safety Law: 'Better Proposals' (Newsweek) Read more >>

Europe’s effort to block kids from social media gathers pace (Politico) Read more >>

TikTok Must Face NY Suit Over Teens' Mental Health (MediaPost) Read more >>

Research reveals “non-existent” enforcement of industry-led standards on loot boxes (5Rights Foundation) Read more >>

How The Kids Online Safety Act Has Evolved as Negotiations Ensue (Tech Policy) Read more >> 

New Zealand’s prime minister proposes social media ban for children under 16 (The Independent) Read more >>

About 40% of apps lack identity security basics (SC Media) Read more >>

Texas Could Become First State to Ban Social Media for All Minors Under 18 (PetaPixel) Read more >>

Industry Research

Understanding the impacts of generative AI use on children (The Alan Turing Institute, funded by the LEGO Group) Read report >>

State of Children's Privacy on Mobile Apps Report: United States 

(Pixalate) Read report >>

How's Life for Children in the Digital Age? (OECD) Read report >>

Scary Feeds: The Reality of Teen Accounts (Accountable Tech & Design it For Us) Read report >>

Global developers’ insights into Child Rights by Design 

(Kruakae Pothong and Sonia Livingstone, Digital Futures for Children centre, 5Rights Foundation) Read report >>

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App Store Age Assurance Bills Spark Concern Despite Good Intentions

This sudden rush to pass App Store Accountability Acts on the surface seems like a good step, solving some of the issues at the door, but in practice, it could be ultimately detrimental to children. Many big tech giants are delighted to see lawmakers putting the responsibility for verifying age and obtaining consent on the app stores. Meanwhile, apps stores are pushing back, arguing that app developers are responsible for the data collection, usage, features, and functionality of the apps they create—and therefore, they should handle age verification and consent.

Read our latest blog where we lay out the concerns with this well-meaning approach.