ACT | The App Association Statement on Further Details of U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C. - ACT | The App Association is encouraged by the announcement from the United States and the Republic of Korea reaffirming the Korea Strategic Trade and Investment deal, as set out in the joint fact sheet released on November 13, 2025. The announcement signals meaningful intent from both governments to reduce digital non-tariff barriers, ensure that online platform regulations do not discriminate against U.S. companies, safeguard cross-border data transfers, and promote fair, predictable rules that support innovation [...]
The ABC’s of Age Verification in the United States
Part One of ACT | The App Association’s Two-Part Series: The ABCs and 1-2-3s of Age Verification and Compliance Lawmakers across the United States are introducing a wave of age verification and parental consent laws aimed at protecting kids online. While well-intentioned, these state-by-state approaches create a confusing and costly patchwork for startups and independent developers. And, as we have seen in other efforts to use age verification methods, the very people these laws aim to protect often become [...]
ACT Unites Worldwide Associations in Supporting Encryption
Encryption is crucial to the global digital economy. If online services cannot use strong technical protection mechanisms like encryption, users of those services would not be able to trust that their sensitive data, including financial and health information, is safe from bad actors. Unfortunately, policymakers around the world continue to seek to undermine encryption through requirements to introduce backdoors into encrypted services despite ample evidence—like the Salt Typhoon attacks in late 2024—that backdoors always compromise security. That is why [...]
OpenAI’s App Store Moment Highlights the Shifting Nature of the Digital Marketplace
OpenAI’s recent announcement that developers could now build and publish apps directly inside ChatGPT became another clear sign of how quickly digital markets evolve. At its DevDay 2025 event, the company revealed a new Apps SDK that lets partners like Canva, Coursera, and Zillow create interactive apps inside ChatGPT. With more than 800 million weekly users, ChatGPT is quickly becoming a new distribution channel in the app economy. Digital markets are fast-changing and the boundaries, and contours of software [...]