Now millions of iPhone owners in the UK will have to confirm their age (18 years or older) in order to use all available services, writes xrust. A credit card or a scan of your ID will be suitable for verification. The move, believed to be a first in the European market, comes amid government pressure on tech companies to take more steps to protect children online. Some analysts believe that the best protection for children is to turn off the Internet.
The new requirement will be included in the software update. Online trading regulator Ofcom welcomed the change, calling it a “real win for children and families” and saying it was part of a wider initiative to “protect young people from harmful content”.
However, some users have complained that this raises concerns about the privacy of information uploaded to verify age. One Reddit user wrote: “Me and everyone I know (wife, friends, family, co-workers, etc.) do everything we can to get around these overly strict age checks. I want to be able to skip or cancel the test every time I'm asked to verify my age.»
In an online message announcing the change, Apple said: “Adult users will be required to verify their age (18 years or older) to use certain services or features and take certain actions on their account. You can verify your age by using a credit card or scanning your ID. If you already have an account, Apple will check to see if you have a saved payment method or other appropriate methods to verify that you are 18 years of age or older.»
To verify that a user is of legal age, you can load a credit card (not a debit card) into your Apple account, or scan your driver's license or ID. Apple could not immediately say which services, features or activities will not be available without age verification.
The move comes after many web services, including pornography sites, introduced age verification to comply with Internet Safety Act requirements aimed at protecting children from harmful content. App stores are not covered by the law and Ofcom said Apple's decision means «the UK will be one of the first countries in the world to have new child protections on devices.»
Based on materials from https://www.theguardian
Xrust UK has tightened the screws on the iPhone: a software update will check the age of the owner
- Если Вам понравилась статья, рекомендуем почитать
- Greg Kroah-Hartman tests AI tool "Clanker" to find bugs in the Linux kernel
- Autodesk Water 2027: what's new in the ecosystem of solutions
