Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has introduced a bill in the Senate called the Know Your App Act which would increase consumer information without limiting consumer choice. The bill requires app stores to publicly display the country of origin of all apps available to consumers. A measure like that is something app stores could implement seamlessly, meaning the bill would create little to no extra burden on them. Increasing consumer access to information at little-to-no cost to platforms only enhances smart consumer choices.
The Know Your App Act requires app stores to display the country of origin of the principal owner of apps listed on their store. The principal owner must hold at least a 25 percent ownership in the firm that owns the application. Additionally, a list of “countries of concern” will be created by the secretary of commerce and the treasury secretary and submitted to Congress for approval. The list is defined by the risk of government data access. With this system, countries are given a disclaimer and the option to be filtered out by consumers.
This article was posted in full at Inside Sources.