Overwhelming Majority of Parents Support App Store Accountability Act Provisions

A new national poll released today by ALLvanza shows 82% of voters and 85% of parents – across partisan lines – support legislation in line with the App Store Accountability Act that would require age verification and parental approval through app stores before minors can download apps.

The findings come as Congress considers a wide array of legislative solutions, including the App Store Accountability Act.

Individual provisions of this proposal likewise receive strong support:

• 83% of voters, including 85% of parents support, requiring parental approval before minors can download apps.
• Nearly two-thirds of voters (65%), including 66% of parents say that collecting users’ self-reported age is not an effective way to protect children online and that stronger age-verification measures, such as those outlined in the App Store Accountability Act, are needed.

When asked about an alternative proposal that would not require parental approval and would only require app stores to collect users’ self-reported ages, support drops substantially:  just 28% of voters support this proposal, while 62% oppose it. Among parents, opposition was even stronger at 68% opposed versus only 24% in support.

Both voters and parents widely reject self-reported age as an effective method for protecting teens online, with both groups agreeing by more than 50-point margins that it makes it too easy for minors to download inappropriate apps.

ALLvanza commissioned Impact Research to conduct a nationwide survey, to dig deeper than the current debates on online child safety, and ask parents what solutions they believe will most effectively empower them to guide their teens’ online activity. The survey included the opinions of 1,150 registered voters, with additional focus on parents and Latino parents.

To have access to the full memo click here