Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4294 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13359 MLH-F
2	2	By: Shaheen H.B. No. 4294
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the regulation of platforms for the sale and
10	10	distribution of software applications for mobile devices;
11	11	authorizing a civil penalty.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
14	14	amended by adding Chapter 121 to read as follows:
15	15	CHAPTER 121. SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS
16	16	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
17	17	Sec. 121.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
18	18	(1) "Age category" means information collected by the
19	19	owner of an app store to designate a user based on the age
20	20	categories described by Section 121.021(b).
21	21	(2) "App store" means a publicly available Internet
22	22	website, software application, or other electronic service that
23	23	distributes software applications from the owner or developer of a
24	24	software application to the user of a mobile device.
25	25	(3) "Minor" means an individual who is younger than 18
26	26	years of age who has not had the disabilities of minority removed
27	27	for general purposes.
28	28	(4) "Mobile device" means a portable, wireless
29	29	electronic device, including a tablet or smartphone, capable of
30	30	transmitting, receiving, processing, and storing information
31	31	wirelessly that runs an operating system designed to manage
32	32	hardware resources and perform common services for software
33	33	applications on handheld electronic devices.
34	34	(5) "Personal data" means any information, including
35	35	sensitive data, that is linked or reasonably linkable to an
36	36	identified or identifiable individual. The term includes
37	37	pseudonymous data when the data is used by a person who processes or
38	38	determines the purpose and means of processing the data in
39	39	conjunction with additional information that reasonably links the
40	40	data to an identified or identifiable individual. The term does not
41	41	include deidentified data or publicly available information.
42	42	Sec. 121.002. RULES. The attorney general shall adopt
43	43	rules to implement this chapter.
44	44	SUBCHAPTER B. DUTIES OF APP STORES
45	45	Sec. 121.021. DUTY TO VERIFY AGE OF USER; AGE CATEGORIES.
46	46	(a) When an individual in this state creates an account with an app
47	47	store, the owner of the app store shall:
48	48	(1) request the individual's age;
49	49	(2) use a commercially reasonable method of
50	50	verification to verify the individual's age; and
51	51	(3) assign to the individual a designation described
52	52	by Subsection (b).
53	53	(b) The owner of an app store shall use the following age
54	54	categories for assigning a designation:
55	55	(1) an individual who is younger than 13 years of age
56	56	is considered a "child";
57	57	(2) an individual who is at least 13 years of age but
58	58	younger than 17 years of age is considered a "teenager";
59	59	(3) an individual who is 17 years of age is considered
60	60	an "older teenager";
61	61	(4) an individual who is at least 18 years of age but
62	62	younger than 21 years of age is considered an "adult"; and
63	63	(5) an individual who is at least 21 years of age is
64	64	considered a "legal adult."
65	65	Sec. 121.022. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED. (a) If the owner
66	66	of the app store determines under Section 121.021 that an
67	67	individual is a minor, the owner must obtain consent from the
68	68	minor's parent or guardian before allowing the minor to:
69	69	(1) download a software application;
70	70	(2) purchase a software application; or
71	71	(3) make a purchase in or using a software
72	72	application.
73	73	(b) The owner of an app store must obtain consent for each
74	74	individual download or purchase sought by the minor.
75	75	(c) To obtain consent from a minor's parent or guardian
76	76	under Subsection (a), the owner of an app store may use any
77	77	reasonable means to:
78	78	(1) disclose to the parent or guardian:
79	79	(A) the specific software application or
80	80	purchase for which consent is sought;
81	81	(B) the rating under Section 121.052 assigned to
82	82	the software application or purchase; and
83	83	(C) the specific content or other elements that
84	84	led to the rating assigned under Section 121.052;
85	85	(2) give the parent or guardian a clear choice to give
86	86	or withhold consent for the download or purchase; and
87	87	(3) ensure that the consent is given by an individual
88	88	that the owner of the app store has verified is an adult who is the
89	89	parent or guardian of the minor.
90	90	Sec. 121.023. DISPLAY OF AGE RATING FOR SOFTWARE
91	91	APPLICATION. (a) The owner of an app store that operates in this
92	92	state shall display for each software application available for
93	93	download and purchase on the app store:
94	94	(1) the rating under Section 121.052 assigned to the
95	95	software application; and
96	96	(2) the specific content or other elements that led to
97	97	the rating assigned under Section 121.052.
98	98	(b) The information displayed under this section must be
99	99	clear, accurate, and conspicuous.
100	100	Sec. 121.024. INFORMATION FOR SOFTWARE APPLICATION
101	101	DEVELOPERS. The owner of an app store that operates in this state
102	102	shall, consistent with the owner's data collection practices, allow
103	103	the developer of a software application to access current
104	104	information related to:
105	105	(1) the age category assigned to each user under
106	106	Section 121.021(b); and
107	107	(2) whether consent has been obtained for each minor
108	108	user under Section 121.022.
109	109	Sec. 121.025. PARENT OVERSIGHT OF USAGE BY MINOR. The owner
110	110	of an app store that operates in this state, owns the operating
111	111	system of a mobile device, and provides parental controls to allow
112	112	users to enable certain content filters or limit software
113	113	application or mobile device usage shall take steps to make those
114	114	parental controls easy for a user to find and operate.
115	115	Sec. 121.026. CONSTRUCTION OF SUBCHAPTER. Nothing in this
116	116	subchapter may be construed to:
117	117	(1) prevent the owner of an app store that operates in
118	118	this state from taking reasonable measures to:
119	119	(A) block, detect, or prevent the distribution
120	120	of:
121	121	(i) obscene material, as that term is
122	122	defined by Section 43.21, Penal Code; or
123	123	(ii) other material that may be harmful to
124	124	minors;
125	125	(B) block or filter spam;
126	126	(C) prevent criminal activity; or
127	127	(D) protect the security of an app store or
128	128	software application;
129	129	(2) require the owner of an app store that operates in
130	130	this state to disclose a user's personal data to the developer of a
131	131	software application except as provided by this subchapter; or
132	132	(3) allow the owner of an app store that operates in
133	133	this state to use a measure required by this chapter in a manner
134	134	that is arbitrary, capricious, anticompetitive, or unlawful.
135	135	SUBCHAPTER C. DUTIES OF SOFTWARE APPLICATION DEVELOPERS
136	136	Sec. 121.051. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
137	137	applies only to the developer of a software application that the
138	138	developer makes available to users in this state through an app
139	139	store.
140	140	Sec. 121.052. DESIGNATION OF AGE RATING. (a) The developer
141	141	of a software application shall assign to each software application
142	142	and to each purchase that can be made through the software
143	143	application an age rating based on the age categories described by
144	144	Section 121.021(b).
145	145	(b) The developer of a software application shall provide to
146	146	each app store through which the developer makes the software
147	147	application available:
148	148	(1) each rating assigned under Subsection (a); and
149	149	(2) the specific content or other elements that led to
150	150	each rating provided under Subdivision (1).
151	151	Sec. 121.053. CHANGES TO SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS. The
152	152	developer of a software application shall provide notice to each
153	153	app store through which the developer makes the software
154	154	application available before making any change to the terms of
155	155	service or privacy policy of the software application that:
156	156	(1) affects or changes the rating assigned to the
157	157	software application under Section 121.052 or the content or
158	158	elements that led to that rating; or
159	159	(2) materially changes the functionality or user
160	160	experience of the software application.
161	161	Sec. 121.054. TIME RESTRICTION. The developer of a
162	162	software application shall provide a readily available feature for
163	163	the parent or guardian of a minor to monitor and limit the amount of
164	164	time the minor spends using the application.
165	165	Sec. 121.055. AGE VERIFICATION. (a) The developer of a
166	166	software application shall create and implement a system to verify:
167	167	(1) for each user of the software application, the age
168	168	category assigned to that user under Section 121.021(b); and
169	169	(2) for each minor user of the software application,
170	170	whether consent has been obtained under Section 121.022.
171	171	(b) The developer of a software application shall use
172	172	information provided by the owner of an app store under Section
173	173	121.024 to perform the verification required by this section.
174	174	SUBCHAPTER D. ENFORCEMENT
175	175	Sec. 121.101. CIVIL PENALTY; INJUNCTION. (a) A person who
176	176	violates this chapter is liable to this state for a civil penalty in
177	177	an amount not to exceed:
178	178	(1) $10,000; or
179	179	(2) if the court finds that the person knowingly or
180	180	repeatedly violated this chapter, $20,000.
181	181	(b) The attorney general may bring an action to:
182	182	(1) collect the penalty under this section;
183	183	(2) seek an injunction against further violation of
184	184	this chapter;
185	185	(3) seek an order from the court for the person to
186	186	disgorge any money received in violation of this chapter; and
187	187	(4) recover attorney's fees and reasonable court
188	188	costs.
189	189	Sec. 121.102. PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION. (a) The parent or
190	190	guardian of a minor who is a victim of a violation of this chapter
191	191	may bring an action against the owner of the app store or the
192	192	developer of a software application, as applicable.
193	193	(b) A parent or guardian of a minor who prevails in an action
194	194	under this section is entitled to recover:
195	195	(1) actual damages;
196	196	(2) injunctive relief; and
197	197	(3) attorney's fees and reasonable court costs.
198	198	SECTION 2. (a) The attorney general shall adopt initial
199	199	rules to implement Chapter 121, Business & Commerce Code, as added
200	200	by this Act, not later than March 1, 2026.
201	201	(b) An action under Chapter 121, Business & Commerce Code,
202	202	as added by this Act, may not be brought before March 1, 2027.
203	203	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.