Apple announced Thursday as part of a broader push to protect children online, in order to introduce “Age Assurance” technology to increase children's privacy and safety on their children's devices.
New technology allows parents to select the age range of their children, instead of providing an accurate date of birth when setting up their child's account, Apple Written in a white paper Released Thursday.
This is done before younger users download the app from third-party developers. Third-party developers will be able to use the “Declared Age API” that allows access to this range immediately.
“Like everything we do, this feature is designed around privacy and allows users to control their data,” Apple writes. “Age ranges are only shared with developers if parents decide to allow this information to be shared. They can also disable sharing if they change their minds.”
The company said it aims to not only create “age-appropriate experiences,” but also to maintain the privacy of children.
The API is “a narrow, data-minimized, privacy protection tool and a privacy protection tool to help app developers who can benefit from it,” Apple added.
This comes amid a broader national debate about the role tech companies play in protecting children and teens online.
There are at least nine states Recently introduced invoices This requires app store operators to verify the age of users and confirm parental consent before minors can download the application.
For a long time, Apple has argued that third-party app developers are responsible for verifying their age.
Technology companies argue that if the requirement to verify the age of the actual app marketplace is to ensure that all users hand over sensitive information if only a limited number of apps require specific information about their users.
“That means providing data such as a driver's license, passport or national identification number (such as a Social Security number), even if you don't need it,” the company said Thursday.
Many children do not have government-issued IDs, so parents force them to provide their sensitive documents instead, Apple added
Meanwhile, other technology companies such as Meta, X and Snap have argued that the App Store itself is responsible.
in letter Earlier this month, Meta, Snap and X were announced in support of the South Dakota Senate bill, which requires an app store to verify a user's age before downloading.
Apple's whitepaper also reveals a series of other child-friendly changes, including a new set-up process for parents needed for users under the age of 13, to set up optional child accounts for minors under the age of 18.
If parents do not immediately terminate the child account setup, the child-friendly default settings will continue to be enabled, allowing the child to use the device safely during that time.
Parents can also modify the age associated with the child account if they are not entered properly.
