Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iOS 26.4 age verification

PowerHarryG4 said:
I've sent a request through Apple's Privacy Inquiries to try and find more information about how this is all working. Here is what I've sent:

Dear Apple Privacy Team,

I am writing to request detailed information about the age verification system recently implemented on iOS 26.4, particularly in relation to compliance with the UK's Online Safety Act.

Could you please clarify the following:

- Is any third-party service involved in the age verification process? If so, which provider(s) are used, and what data is shared?

- What personal data is collected, stored, or processed during age verification, and for how long is it retained?

- How is user privacy protected during this process, especially when sensitive documents like IDs are submitted?

- What are the user’s rights to access, correct, or delete data collected through age verification?

I am seeking this information to better understand how Apple ensures compliance with data protection regulations such as UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Thank you for your time and transparency. I look forward to your response.

I'll put another comment into here when I get a response.
Click to expand...
I am sorry but I don't think you will get a personal reply.

Apple have been really shady with this update e.g. not advertising this significant change on the update prompt. They aren't about to suddenly become transparent.

But what worries me more, is that this is the thin end of the wedge. MacOS and TVOS next (after all, the online safety act does not differentiate between device types)...

Without transparency about what is collected and what is retained (and by whom) then I will assume that we heading towards a world where when a user interacts with the internet, it is logged and can be authenticated to a real-world human being.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vanishing
uacd said:
But shouldn’t they have passed it to parents to monitor instead? It is a good cause, but maybe way too extreme.

Anxiety and phone addiction in my opinion are the inevitable outcomes of “digitalization” of everything. Data shows that anxiety is mostly caused by the education system and lack of parental guidance. So imagine a modern family: everyone sits on the coach in their phones, or… only parents because kids cannot, they barely talk to each other and do not discuss anything like a family. This neither solves the problem nor creates ways to counter it. Moreover lack of communication creates even more anxiety and depression.
Click to expand...
I think the argument of "parents should just parent better" simply doesn't work in this situation. Plenty of parents simply do not have the understanding of how this technology works, and we cannot expect all parents to become IT literate overnight. Also parents are busy, it's really hard for parents to be constantly monitoring what their kids are doing 24/7.

I think anxiety and phone addiction doesn't have to be an inevitable outcome to "digitalisation". Because it simply isn't the phone, it's the apps that are on the phone. Social media companies have the best of the best people working on ways to make their apps as addictive as possible and there was the recent case that found Meta did in fact directly target children on their apps. The government definitely could introduce policies to make these apps less addictive, not just for children but for everyone and I think it would make the world a better place; give us a toggle to disable infinite scroll and control the algorithms.

Although I do agree that something had to be done policy-wise to fix these problems, the way the government has gone about it is completely wrong and doesn't fix the problem. There are plenty of privacy oriented ways we could have gone about this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yimbaz and uacd
Just done mine with driving license it asked me to scan both sides them accepted it. I didnt have to do it on my ipad as it is the same icloud account.
 
Seems there are people who welcome a nanny state which inconveniences the majority but helps out bad parenting.

Some of the awful takes like parents too busy and conflating phone addition to age verification are probably why we ended up with Cameron—> Sunak, Starmer and Farage & co in the future.
 
deaglecat said:
I am sorry but I don't think you will get a personal reply.

Apple have been really shady with this update e.g. not advertising this significant change on the update prompt. They aren't about to suddenly become transparent.

But what worries me more, is that this is the thin end of the wedge. MacOS and TVOS next (after all, the online safety act does not differentiate between device types)...

Without transparency about what is collected and what is retained (and by whom) then I will assume that we heading towards a world where when a user interacts with the internet, it is logged and can be authenticated to a real-world human being.
Click to expand...
Absolutely no doubt this and more are coming to all Apple platforms. Already there is significant network traffic on macOS phoning home (not including software updates or security)
 
vanishing said:
Seems there are people who welcome a nanny state which inconveniences the majority but helps out bad parenting.

Some of the awful takes like parents too busy and conflating phone addition to age verification are probably why we ended up with Cameron—> Sunak, Starmer and Farage & co in the future.
Click to expand...
If you're going to reference what I said why not reply to me directly rather than make some general statement about "some of the awful takes". Additionally you haven't said any argument to refute my point - all you've said is it's and awful take, would you care to explain why?.

People can blame "bad parenting" all they want but I think that's unfair to parents who are not tech savy. We cannot expect parents to be experts on all topics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Paul1964
PowerHarryG4 said:
If you're going to reference what I said why not reply to me directly rather than make some general statement about "some of the awful takes". Additionally you haven't said any argument to refute my point - all you've said is it's and awful take, would you care to explain why?.

People can blame "bad parenting" all they want but I think that's unfair to parents who are not tech savy. We cannot expect parents to be experts on all topics.
Click to expand...
So you are talking about parents who had kids after the advent of the iPhone, having little interaction or understanding of computers/phones seems like an extreme edge case if not altogether strawman.

No one is asking every parent to be able to design networks or code apps, the level of ‘tech savvy’ required to understand parental controls is minimal in the tech age & goes hand in hand with parenting.

If you want to put a phone/tablet in kids hands, it’s your responsibility to know how it works and what they might look at, and subsequently take action against that.

Instead you want to delegate this to the state to the inconvenience of the majority.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cobalt Blizzard, AlumaMac, DCIFRTHS and 2 others
Being a glutton for punishment and reading all the horrific pearl clutching on here I thought, why not give it a go?

*shrug*

What exactly is the fuss all about?

IMG_0173.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: PowerHarryG4 and ForkHandles
arkitect said:
Being a glutton for punishment and reading all the horrific pearl clutching on here I thought, why not give it a go?

*shrug*

What exactly is the fuss all about?

View attachment 2617949
Click to expand...
You think that handing over personal data to a company that consistently bangs on about privacy because they baked in age verification when there’s no law requiring this at OS level is pearl clutching?

Mixed emotions about a bunch of clap alongs that do whatever they’re told - it makes my AAPL go up, the downside is they can vote & think themselves as good parents.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deaglecat and PatrixUSA
ForkHandles said:
Everything I spend, I spend on a credit card. It gets paid off at the end of every month, no charges.

Why?
One reason, the Consumer Credit Act in the UK means I am never spending my own money. Fraud, don't care, it's the bank's cash not mine, that is their problem.

Guarantees, everything I buy is guaranteed, if I am not satisfied I can get a refund. Why? The credit card company are responsible for the quality of the goods they buy on my behalf. If they sell me dodgy goods and then charge me for them, they are liable.

I don't know if you have these sort of protections en España, I would imagine that they are EU wide though..
Click to expand...
agree, with "paid off at the end of every month" being key to the protections and advantages of using ccs... what can be better than using the bank's money for a month? interest and worry-free
ForkHandles said:
There’s information. There’s truth.

Don’t confuse the two.

Clickbait exists because gullible people want soothing lies not uncomfortable truths.

The uncomfortable truth here is that we have an epidemic of kids suffering with anxiety and phone addiction. That’s a little more important than your access to rudy nudie videos.
Click to expand...
agree again... this online or digital age verification stuff reminds me of the axiom of appearing good versus doing good, (see K.G.M. v. Meta et al.), and imo the tech companies will overuse these policies that appear to do good to data mine to the most extent they are able to get away with, bc in today's world data (especially personal data) is the new currency

will age verification really solve anything or help any kids or anyone, for sure in some cases, but imo the trade-off of turning over the verification data is much more likely to be misused or cause harm in some ways (hacked, id theft, ai fakes, impersonations, etc, etc)... although not a solution to everything nowadays, parenting is more important than ever, but also in some way lacking more than ever, often not a combo that results in a good outcome
 
vanishing said:
You think that handing over personal data to a company that consistently bangs on about privacy because they baked in age verification when there’s no law requiring this at OS level is pearl clutching?
Click to expand...
Exactly what personal data am I handing over that Apple do not already have on me?

Genuine question, BTW.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wando64 and Paul1964
ForkHandles said:
What is the betting Meta win this fight?

It will either be appealed by one of The Lump’s judges or will go all the way to SCOTUS where they will overturn what is good for the people.
Click to expand...
where does provider responsibility end, and end-user responsibility begin?
mcdonalds made me fat, tv made me sloth, facebook made me crazy... not sure where the responsibility shift ends?
arkitect said:
Exactly what personal data am I handing over that Apple do not already have on me?

Genuine question, BTW.
Click to expand...
if they already have it then why are they asking for / requiring it? (updated or different tos?)
 
PatrixUSA said:
where does provider responsibility end, and end-user responsibility begin?
mcdonalds made me fat, tv made me sloth, facebook made me crazy... not sure where the responsibility shift ends?

if they already have it then why are they asking for / requiring it? (updated or different tos?)
Click to expand...
They don't have it for "everyone" ofc.

That is why they are trying to make it friction free if you have a CC on file and/or account > 18 years ago.

But it is still fundamentally a requirement for real ID (even a CC counts !) and I think that is the main reason for the change.

You can no longer fully use your IOS device anonymously (many don't) ...but you used to be able to (esp if bought used).
 
Don’t like iOS 26 having finally updated but at least age verification was no issue as it said something like it could tell I was 18 from how long I had my Apple account. Which made me feel ancient.
 
PowerHarryG4 said:
If you're going to reference what I said why not reply to me directly rather than make some general statement about "some of the awful takes". Additionally you haven't said any argument to refute my point - all you've said is it's and awful take, would you care to explain why?.

People can blame "bad parenting" all they want but I think that's unfair to parents who are not tech savy. We cannot expect parents to be experts on all topics.
Click to expand...
Not understanding technology is a bad excuse. If you do not understand something, you should not let your children use it. That simple. My kids are not getting any smart devices on their own until they are 16. Until then, they use a shared computer in the living room for their homework and things.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: tranceking26, Matthew.H, vanishing and 1 other person
lienmar said:
what if you just dont do it?
what exactly apps / services / things are not working anymore?
i want to see people to post here what they were able to do on their iphones, but not anymore because they didnt pass age verification yet.
Click to expand...

If I see that I'm shifting to GrapheneOS with motorola
 
  • Like
Reactions: vanishing
deaglecat said:
You can no longer fully use your IOS device anonymously (many don't) ...but you used to be able to (esp if bought used).
Click to expand...
I don't have my name in the OS. My financial instrument is disposable. I train the photos of me as several different people. My personal contacts are all nicknames. I don't install malware or garBage apps. This is not a toy. I have a personal phone, a work phone, and a sandbox used phone for shady apps populated with more nonsense. Don't look at github mitmadblock. Don't take privacy seriously lest you become a findable outlier. uh oh.

Also I don't carry an ATM card everywhere or use ss7 sms as banking "security". If a bank does not support physical tokens change banks. My trading account has a password and a token.

I don't install financial apps on a mobile: that's nuts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: uacd
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back