GermanyJugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (JMStV, Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media), Sections 12-12b, operating system youth protection device (Jugendschutzvorrichtung)
JMStV Secs. 12 12a and 12b, inserted by the Sechster Medienaenderungsstaatsvertrag (Sixth Interstate Treaty Amending Media Law Treaties), treaty in force ; transition rules in JMStV Sec. 25
An app store age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
- Audit expectation
- on_request
- Who audits it
- Regulator
- Where the report goes
- Filed with regulator, Published
What it requires
- This treaty is in force but these duties are not yet: they apply one year after the KJM publishes its determination of the covered operating systems (due within one year of ), so by at the latest, or up to three years for systems in a current or completed production cycle.
- Applies to providers of operating systems commonly used by children and adolescents in Germany, as the KJM determines (smartphones, consoles, smart TVs and other devices enabling access to telemedia); non-updatable systems on devices already sold are exempt.
- Equip the operating system with a youth protection device (Jugendschutzvorrichtung) that can be activated, deactivated and adjusted in a simple, easily accessible and secured way and in which a child's age can be set.
- Once an age is set, restrict browsing to search engines with a secured search function, allow app installation only from distribution platforms whose apps carry a machine readable age label from a KJM recognized automated rating system, and make only age appropriate apps usable unless the parent individually unlocks them.
- If you run an app distribution platform, make sure the apps you carry have a machine readable age label from a KJM recognized automated rating system, because the operating system will allow installation only from platforms whose apps do; apps must read and respect the device age setting.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) (guidance, recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalties
Administrative fines (Ordnungswidrigkeit) of up to 2,000,000 euros for providing an operating system without a compliant youth protection device (JMStV Sec. 24(1) nos. 11-24 and Sec. 24(3))
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Kommission fuer Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) and the Landesmedienanstalten (state media authorities)
Settledness
- As of
- Guidance link
- https://www.kjm-online.de/themen/aufsicht-internet/faqs-zum-6-medienaenderungsstaatsvertrag/
- Guidance body
- Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM)
- Open questions
- Which operating systems will the KJM determine to be 'von Kindern und Jugendlichen üblicherweise genutzt' under Section 16(1), sentence 3, no. 6 JMStV, and is a desktop operating system among them, given that the KJM's FAQ names mobile phones, smart TVs and game consoles?
- Does a company that adapts the youth protection device of another provider's operating system, such as a device maker that ships a customized build, become the 'Dritter' who carries the duty of Section 12(1), sentence 2 JMStV in place of the original provider?
What it reaches
Covered services
Operating systems of end devices (smartphones, consoles, smart TVs and other devices enabling access to telemedia) commonly used by children and adolescents in Germany, plus the app distribution platforms and apps that must read and respect the device age setting
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Operator establishment, Market targeting
Verification methods
Device signal, Parental consent
What it makes you log
Who may demand the log
Regulator, Public
Log retention
- As of
- Basis
- Fixed
- Prohibits retaining
- Data read out from the youth protection device by app providers, which must be deleted immediately after each access (operating system providers excepted)
Logging duty
The operating system provider must issue a self-declaration of conformity of its youth protection device and deposit it with the KJM, which publishes it. The provisions require no log of individual age settings, and Section 12b bars keeping the data read out of the device.
- Kind
- Implicit
- As of
- Provision
- JMStV Section 12(5)
- Trigger
- age_assurance
What this law does
Requires providers of operating systems commonly used by children and adolescents, as determined by the KJM, to equip their systems with a youth protection device (Jugendschutzvorrichtung) that can be activated, deactivated and adjusted in a simple, easily accessible and secured way and in which a child's age can be set.
Once an age is set, the operating system must restrict browsing to search engines with a secured search function, allow app installation only from distribution platforms whose apps carry a machine readable age label from a KJM recognized automated rating system, and make only age appropriate apps usable unless individually unlocked by the parent.
Under Section 25 these duties apply one year after the KJM publishes its determination of the covered operating systems, which is itself due within one year of the treaty's entry into force, so at the latest from , extended to at most three years for operating systems in a current or completed production cycle, with non updatable systems on devices already sold exempt. No KJM determination of the covered operating systems, from which Section 25 counts the year, has been located.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates an app store.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .