# 119-hr-3149: App Store Accountability Act

119-hr-3149, App Store Accountability Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. James, John [R-MI-10] (R-MI); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3149
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-3149
- Congress: 119
- Title: App Store Accountability Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-05-01
- Sponsor: Rep. James, John [R-MI-10] (R-MI)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Commerce
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Gives parents more visibility and control over apps their children use.** This bill would create rules requiring age verification and verifiable parental consent, limit collection of age-related data, and require app stores and developers to share a child's age category and consent status with downstream actors for enforcement and oversight. - Families and parents: Parents would receive clear consent disclosures and tools to approve or monitor account creation and app use for minors, increasing parental oversight at account setup and during app use. - Children and privacy: The bill would restrict how much age-related data apps can collect and require protections and minimization of that information to reduce unnecessary tracking of minors. - App stores and developers: Covered app stores and developers would face specific obligations, a certification option for compliance, and a safe harbor for good-faith compliance; most provisions would take effect one year after enactment. - Regulators and states: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would handle federal enforcement and states could also enforce the law, while the bill preempts state laws on the same topics but preserves contract and tort claims.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] (R-FL), 2025-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9] (R-IN), 2025-12-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Parents must OK kids’ app purchases: benefit, high. If enacted, when an account is for a minor, it would have to link to a verified parent account. A parent would need to give verifiable consent before a child could download, buy, or make in‑app purchases. After a big app change, the store would tell the user and, for minors, notify the parent and g…
- Safe harbor for app developers: benefit, medium. If enacted, one year after the law, a developer who relies in good faith on the store’s age signal, follows this Act’s rules, and uses recognized rating standards would have a safe harbor from lawsuits under this Act. This would not shield the developer from claims under other laws.
- Age checks and limits on age data: mixed, high. If enacted, app stores would ask for and verify your age when you create an account, and must protect that data. Developers would have to use the store’s age signal; getting it would count as knowing a user’s age. Apps could use age data only to enforce age rules, follow the law, or run features, a…
- Enforcement, complaints, and national rules: mixed, high. If enacted, violations would be treated as unfair or deceptive acts, and the FTC could use its usual tools and penalties. State attorneys general could sue on behalf of residents after notifying the FTC, and the FTC could step in; overlapping state cases against the same defendants would pause. The…
- Who is covered and when: mixed, high. If enacted, age groups would be set as: under 13, 13–15, 16–17, and 18 or older. App stores with more than 5,000,000 U.S. users would be covered. Most rules would start one year after enactment, though some parts may have their own timelines.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-3164: Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act
- 119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-703: Main Street Tax Certainty Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-3149 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3149)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-3164: Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3164)
- [119-hr-2126: FOCA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2126)
- [119-hr-703: Main Street Tax Certainty Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-703)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3149 (as of 2026-04-21).