Are you aware of what your child could be agreeing to online?

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has often set the national standard in using legislative power to protect children online. The latest bill to pass, SB142, protects children from entering legal contracts.

It may seem silly; you wouldn't have an 8-year-old sign a binding legal agreement, yet children enter into contracts and share their information online daily.

"Every time a child downloads an app on their smartphone, the app developers ask them to accept the terms and conditions," the bill's sponsor, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said two weeks ago in the House Economic Development and Workforce Services committee meeting.

"They are the terms and conditions of a legally binding contract. Sometimes, they ask for permission to access your microphone. They may ask for permission to access your camera. They may ask for permission to collect your data. They may ask for permission to sell your data," he added.

"How many of you think it's a good idea for an 11-year-old child to be clicking 'yes,' agreeing that their microphone and maybe their camera can be accessed and their data can be harvested and used against them," Weiler said.

On Wednesday, the Senate agreed with the changes made to the bill by the House — voting 25-1 — after passing it in early February. After nearly a unanimous vote every time it has been voted in both committee meetings and on the floor, SB142 will now be signed by both the House speaker and Senate president, then head to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

In response to the Senate passing SB142, social media platforms Meta, X and Snap shared the following joint statement via email:

"Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child's age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way. The app store is the best place for it, and more than a quarter of states have introduced bills recognizing the central role app stores play. We applaud Utah for putting parents in charge with its landmark legislation and urge Congress to follow suit."

Utah parents fight for online child protection

Melissa McKay said in the House Economic Development and Workforce Services committee meeting that if the bill were signed into law, it would address the "exploitative parts" of the mobile device app stores, Google and Apple. McKay has advocated for years to hold Big Tech accountable for its effects on minors.

According to McKay, app stores currently treat children older than 12 as consenting legal adults. This bill would restore parental oversight by linking children to a parent account.

"It's so important that parents understand which apps their kids are downloading and (that) they have full disclosures about what those apps do and what they are rated," she said. "Trillion-dollar companies should not be able to broker underage children to other billion-dollar companies without parental oversight."

During the public discussion regarding SB142, Melanie Mortensen, a representative of Utah Parents United, shared that a survey of Utah parents was highly in favor of the bill. "Seventy-eight percent of Utah parents support requiring app stores to obtain parental approval before children can download apps," she said. "And even better, another poll showed that 80% of Utah mothers support it."

From safeguarding children against predators in virtual reality to shielding them from the dangers of social media and pushing back against platforms that apparently profit from exploiting minors to now protecting them from signing legal contracts, Utah politicians are making it clear: The children of Utah will be protected.

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