UK iPhone users face over-18 age check to use services after update | iPhone
Millions of Apple iPhone customers in the UK will now need to confirm they are 18 or over to benefit from all available services, including presenting a credit card or ID scanning.
The move, believed to be a first for the European market, comes as the government pressures tech companies to do more to protect children online.
The new requirement will be included in a software update. The development was welcomed by online regulator Ofcom, which described it as a “real win for children and families” and said it was part of a wider effort to “keep young people away from harmful content”.
However, some users complained that this raised concerns about the privacy of information uploaded to prove age. Someone on Reddit said: “I and everyone I know (wife, friends, family, colleagues, etc.) do everything to bypass these extreme age checks. I want to have the option to bypass or cancel in every situation when asked to prove my age.”
In an online post announcing the change, Apple said: “Adults will be required to confirm that they are 18 or older before they can use certain services or features or perform certain transactions on their account. You can verify your age with a credit card or by scanning an ID.”
“If you already have an account, Apple will check if you have a payment method on file or other eligible methods available to verify that you are 18 or older.”
To verify that someone is an adult, a credit card (not a debit card) can be loaded into a user’s Apple account, or a driver’s license or national identification document can be scanned. Apple couldn’t immediately say which services, features or actions wouldn’t be accessible without age verification.
The move comes after many web services, including pornography websites, introduced age verification gates to comply with the Online Safety Act’s measures to protect children from harmful content. App stores are not covered by this law, and Ofcom said Apple’s decision means “the UK will be one of the first countries in the world to get new protections for child safety on devices.”
The watchdog has already said it will publish a report on children’s use of app stores in January next year to assess their role in children’s exposure to harmful content. It said it would then evaluate the use and effectiveness of age assurance by app store providers.
