Opinion: Arizona parents deserve stronger protections when children download apps

Teenagers and small business owners rarely have much in common. I work with both, as a longtime Arizona high school teacher and as President of CREA LatinX, which supports Latino entrepreneurs and leaders. One role keeps me close to teenagers and the apps they use. The other connects me with business owners who understand accountability. Together, these experiences reveal a gap in how we protect children online.

In business, the rules are straightforward. If you sell beer, cigarettes or lottery tickets, you check identification and face consequences for mistakes. Owners take that responsibility seriously because their licenses and reputations depend on it. Yet app stores, the digital storefronts children visit every day, face different expectations.

In my classroom, students download apps quickly and frequently. Many apps collect personal information, share data or use features designed to hold users' attention. Parents may not discover what their children installed until much later.

Americans recognize this concern. In a national Impact Research poll commissioned by ALLvanza, 82% of voters and 85% of parents supported requiring app stores to verify ages and obtain parental approval before minors download apps. Among Latino parents, 79% supported the proposal, while 58% said approving apps through one app store would be easier than managing permissions separately.

This matters in Arizona, where nearly half of public school students are Latino. Many parents I know run businesses from early morning until late evening. They want a meaningful say in their children's online lives, but cannot navigate separate controls for every app. A single, clear approval process could make that responsibility more manageable.

The App Store Accountability Act proposes such a system. Under the bill, app stores would verify a user's age when an account is created. A minor's account would be linked to a parent, whose approval would be required for downloads and purchases. Changes to an app's age rating or data practices could trigger another request for parental consent. The proposal also limits the information collected for age verification and provides apps with age ranges and parental consent status.

Another proposal, the Parents Over Platforms Act, or POPA, takes a different approach. It would require app stores to ask users their ages without requiring independent verification. A child could enter an incorrect birth year and be treated as an adult, leaving apps to rely on an unverified answer.

Business owners would recognize that approach as the honor system. A convenience store cannot responsibly rely on a customer's word when selling age-restricted products. Why should app stores be treated differently when children are the customers?

The distinction matters because parental involvement is only meaningful when safeguards can identify minors reliably. Asking for a birth year may appear simple, but simplicity alone does not establish accountability. Parents deserve a process they can understand and use without having to become technology experts.

Congress is considering broader online safety measures. The House passed a children's online safety package in June, while the Senate Commerce Committee advanced its version of the Kids Online Safety Act in August. As lawmakers negotiate, the details of app store requirements deserve careful attention.

For Arizona families, this is not an abstract debate about technology. It is about what happens between a child picking up a phone and downloading an app. Parents should have an opportunity to understand that decision before it happens, not discover it afterward.

Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, along with Arizona's House delegation, have an opportunity to examine whether final legislation provides meaningful age verification and practical parental approval. They should also consider privacy protections so that verifying age does not become an excuse to collect unnecessary personal information.

I see the stakes from both sides of my work. Teachers see how quickly technology enters students' lives. Small business owners know that responsibility requires more than asking customers to follow rules voluntarily. Families need a workable balance between access, privacy and protection.

Checking identification at a counter is a routine part of responsible commerce. Digital marketplaces should face serious questions about their responsibilities, too. The App Store Accountability Act offers one approach: verify age, give parents a voice and place accountability where downloads begin. That principle should guide lawmakers as they finish negotiations.