Apple announced on Thursday a new feature that allows parents to share their child's age with app developers without disclosing sensitive information like birthdays or government IDs. This move is in response to proposed age-verification laws in various U.S. states, including Utah and South Carolina, that may require app store operators like Apple and Google to verify users' ages.
The technology industry is divided on whether app stores or individual apps should be responsible for verifying the ages of users under 18. Meta has advocated for app stores to handle this verification process. Apple, however, emphasized that it does not want to be tasked with collecting sensitive data for age verification, as outlined in a whitepaper on its website.
To address this issue, Apple introduced "age assurance," which allows parents to input a child's age when creating their account. Parents can then opt to share a "declared age range" instead of precise birthdate with third-party developers, with the ability to control age-range sharing.
According to Apple, this approach maintains privacy by empowering parents to manage their children's personal information while limiting data shared with third parties. While Meta views Apple's technology as a positive first step, it raises concerns about children sharing age-range data with developers, hindering Meta's ability to leverage the information effectively.
In response, a Meta spokeswoman, Stephanie Otway, expressed support for legislation that mandates app stores to verify a child's age and obtain parental consent before app downloads. Apple's current parental control features require approval for children to download apps.