This bill, titled the "App Store Accountability Act," seeks to enhance child safety online by ensuring parents receive transparent and accurate information about applications their children use and that proper parental consent is obtained. It establishes specific obligations for both covered app store providers , defined as those with over 5 million U.S. users, and app developers operating on these platforms. The legislation introduces a framework for age verification and parental oversight for users under 18 years of age, referred to as minors . Covered app store providers must request and verify a user's age during account creation, categorizing them as a young child, child, teenager, or adult. If a user is identified as a minor, their account must be affiliated with a parental account , and verifiable parental consent must be secured before the minor can download or purchase apps or make in-app purchases. App stores are also required to notify users and parents of significant changes to an app's terms or privacy policy, re-obtaining consent for minors, and to protect the confidentiality of age verification data. They must provide app developers with real-time age category data and parental consent status. App developers are mandated to verify user age categories and parental consent status through the app store's provided methods. They must notify app stores of significant changes to their apps and can only request age category data or consent at specific times, such as during initial download or after a significant change. Developers are restricted from enforcing contracts against minors without verifiable parental consent, knowingly misrepresenting information in parental consent disclosures, or sharing age category data with unaffiliated third parties. The bill specifies that receiving an app store's age signal constitutes actual knowledge of a user's age category. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is tasked with issuing guidance to assist compliance and establishing a mechanism for app stores to seek compliance certification, valid for one year. Violations of the Act will be treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the Federal Trade Commission Act, granting the FTC broad enforcement powers. Additionally, state attorneys general are authorized to bring civil actions to enjoin violations, enforce compliance, or obtain damages on behalf of their residents, provided they notify the FTC. A safe harbor provision protects app developers from liability if they demonstrate good faith reliance on app store-provided age verification data, comply with their specific obligations, and adhere to industry standards for age ratings and content descriptions. The Act also includes a preemption clause, superseding state or local laws related to its provisions, though it explicitly does not affect contract or tort law. The Act is set to take effect one year after its enactment.