In Washington, DC the names of bills can be deceiving. Remember Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, a law that promised to lower prices, and then helped drive them higher? Unfortunately, some lawmakers are currently considering another mislabeled proposal, the so-called App Store Freedom Act (ASFA).
Despite its appealing name, the AFSA isn’t about freedom. In fact, the bill would gut privacy protections and undermine cybersecurity safeguards that Americans rely on. Like so many Washington ideas, it’s a solution in search of a problem, one that would ultimately make Americans less safe online while claiming to make them more “free.”
The current online ecosystem allows app stores to vet apps for cybersecurity threats and write rules that protect users’ basic privacy rights. The ASFA would blow a hole through those protections by opening the door to unvetted third-party app stores and sideloaded apps that bypass the built-in safeguards preventing malware, spyware, and data-harvesting schemes from reaching your phone.
That’s why the bill’s rumored appearance in an upcoming hearing on kids’ online safety is so troubling. The proposal does the opposite of what parents want and policymakers claim to support. It would strip away the privacy and security guardrails that protect children from predators, explicit content, and data exploitation. It’s a backwards idea to weaken privacy in the name of protecting kids. Calling that “freedom” doesn’t make it so.
The ASFA would dismantle the same protections parents rely on to manage what their kids can download, view, and share. Today’s app store ecosystem lets parents set restrictions, filter explicit content, and block suspicious apps. But the ASFA would break even the basic privacy protections that millions of Americans appreciate, including features that give users control over whether apps can follow them across the internet.
Sideloaded or third-party apps wouldn’t need to respect those settings, meaning bad actors with a history of abusing user data could effectively write their own terms of service, exposing consumers to new forms of tracking, manipulation, and exploitation. That means less transparency and less accountability.
Similarly, the App Store Freedom Act would weaken cybersecurity at a time when Americans are more vulnerable than ever to online threats. The current app store model is a critical line of defense against foreign malware and surveillance tools. Requiring companies to admit unvetted software would create new vulnerabilities that adversaries could exploit to steal data, spy on Americans, or disrupt communications. At a moment when Washington is rightly focused on strengthening cyber resilience, this bill would move in the opposite direction.
If parents and kids are the losers, who wins under the ASFA? The real beneficiaries are multi-billion-dollar app makers seeking “freedom” to boost profits at consumers’ expense. Video game giant Epic Games, which paid the largest children’s privacy fine in history, has lobbied aggressively for the bill. So has Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, whose company has faced backlash over invasive data-tracking practices, and dating app conglomerate Match Group, which has been accused of enabling predatory behavior on its platforms.
These companies aren’t fighting for freedom. They’re fighting for fewer rules. If they succeed, parents and kids will pay the price. Families are already working overtime to keep their children safe online. They shouldn’t also have to navigate a digital marketplace tilted toward corporate interests and flooded with unvetted apps. By tearing down the safeguards that keep dangerous and deceptive software out, the ASFA would hand new advantages to scammers, data brokers, and even foreign adversaries, all while leaving parents to fend for themselves.
For lawmakers who value personal responsibility, strong families, and a secure digital economy, this should raise red flags. Digital freedom isn’t the freedom for bad actors to track your family or for hackers to reach your children. It’s the freedom to use technology safely, privately, and confidently. The App Store Freedom Act undermines that principle. Congress should think twice before considering a bill that weakens privacy, breaks parental controls, and erodes security.
John Amanchukwu is a Turning Point USA Faith Contributor and pastor.
