Report: More than 80% of NY parents support law restricting app downloads for teens

A new report found that a majority of New York parents, especially those of color, support the creation of a law restricting children under 16 from downloading apps without parental consent. 

The study, released by the Black Institute and conducted by Global Strategy Group, found that parents were more than 80% in favor of legislation to restrict teens from downloading apps without their permission. Additionally, the study found that 46% of Black parents were strongly in favor of such legislation, while 41% strongly favored it overall. 

The study surveyed a group of 600 parents of children under 18 in New York state and included an oversample of 206 Black parents, with a margin of error of +/-4%. 

The sample, constructed to ensure proper representation of the geographic, political, and demographic divisions of the parent population in New York, also showed that a centralized app approval process is preferred by parents across all categories polled. This would allow them to manage and consent to their children's app downloads from a single location, as opposed to dealing with individual app approvals after the fact. This preference for a one-stop-shop approach is overwhelmingly favored by parents, according to the survey.

"Parents across New York have made it clear: they want a say in what apps their children can access," said Tuulikki Robertson, executive director of The Black Institute. "These findings reinforce the need for legislation that puts parents in the driver's seat when it comes to protecting their children online."

The report also found that 76% of New York parents, including Black parents, trust app stores like the Apple App Store or Google Play, to handle their personal information securely. In contrast, less than 24% said they would trust individual apps with their personal data more than an app store.

The only states with a law requiring app store operators, such as Apple and Google, to confirm a child's age and obtain parental consent before allowing a minor to download or buy an app are Utah which passed its “App Store Accountability Act” in March of this year and Alabama which just last week passed two new bills aimed at enhancing online safety for minors by requiring filters on new smartphones and tablets and mandating age verification for app store access.  Utah’s law mandates that app stores verify users' ages, link minors' accounts to their parents', and obtain parental permission prior to allowing any purchases or downloads. Legislators in Alaska, South Carolina, and Texas are drafting similar proposals.

The parental consent issue for app downloads has divided big tech. Meta supports such measures, with Meta, X, and Snap Inc. issuing a joint statement praising Utah's new law and urging Congress to follow suit. The company believes app stores are the ideal 'one-stop shop' for parental verification and permission. However, Apple and Google oppose these laws. The Chamber of Progress, a tech policy group backed by Apple and Google, lobbied against Utah's bill, arguing it's an 'encroachment of individual privacy.' Apple also worked to defeat a similar bill in Louisiana. 

"This is about empowerment and security," the Black Institute’s Robertson told City & State. "Parents, especially in communities of color, want straightforward tools to safeguard their children’s digital experiences, and they trust app stores to manage this responsibly."

“I don’t necessarily want to have to give out my own personal information every time my kids want to download a new app” Yoshi, a divorced father of five from Washington Heights, who co-parents his children (including two teenage daughters) told City & State. “But on the other hand these streets out here are wild – even more so online  – and I can use all the help I can get to make sure my daughters’ information and attention doesn’t fall into the wrong hands."