Apple tells app developers to become serious about child safety

Apple is improving its application’s security offers later this year, including new age insurance policies intended to enter the Internet Debate for Child Protection.

According to a recently published white letter, the company plans to expand its children’s account settings, the age of app stores, and provide ways to app developers to establish more comprehensive age restriction environments for small users.

“Protecting children-if they are young children, preteens or adolescents-from internet threats requires constant vigilance and effort. The digital world is increasingly complex and risks to families are always changing, including the spread of inappropriate age and over time on social media and other platforms,” ​​Apple writes. “For years, Apple has supported Apple specialized accounts for children-called children’s accounts-enabling parents to manage many parental controls we offer, and help provide an appropriate age for children under the age of 13.

Age range for developers

Late later this year, the new declared API declared Apple’s intimacy allows developers to look for an approximate age range for children’s account users, approved by parents, which can then be used to better apps and set up input limits for age -limited applications. Small users will be driven with a “age shares” notice, similar to pop-ups for apps or location services, and can be turned off at any time. Developers can still choose their applications to seek government identification, but the ID will not be required to use the app store in general.

Politics represents an important attitude taken by Apple in the middle of a number of industry debate about “age insurance” or verification. Politicians and technology leaders have offered mixed ideas about the most effective, and convenient way to verify the ages of young users across social media platforms and other digital spaces, including applications market sites. Many, like Meta, argue that applications market sites should be held responsible for connecting juveniles to platforms that expect age -limited or harmful content. State legislatures, backed by technology companies, have proposed different age verification laws – their effectiveness is widely debated.

Politicians have introduced legislation dealing with the issue of digital intimacy lenses, while others have suggested fair prohibitions for juveniles entering certain internet spaces. The Object of Child Safety Act, proposed in 2023, would require online platforms to enable the strongest intimacy settings for all minor users and establish a “task of care” for social media companies, especially.

Apple, conversely, is arguing for a policy that sets the burden on app developers, not market sites and minimizes data collection. “Some applications may see it appropriate or even necessary to use age verification, which confirms the age of the user with a high level of security-insult by collecting a user’s sensitive personal information (such as a government-issued ID)-to keep children away from inappropriate content. But most applications do not. apps that hosts of that type of content. ”

Youth account management and access access

Apple updates will also include age levels in a more effective process of configuring children’s accounts, as well, making it easier for parents to determine child safety settings for required users (13 and younger ones), as well as voluntarily selected in age account or use of appliances with Apple. Parents can still adjust and adjust the settings at a later date.

To accommodate these new settings, Apple’s age rans will become more specific, with new applications, including:

• 4+ years old

• 9+ years old

• 13+ years old

• 16+ years old

• 18+ years old

Along these same lines, Apple will also expand the visibility of its contents for youth accounts, preventing applications out of selected age estimates from displaying today’s devices, games and file files, and stories and editorial collections.