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New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK
- peterspath 6mo agoThis will probably be sneaked in, in more countries under the banner of age verification since more countries are proposing laws than ban children younger than 16 from social media. I am all for the ban of social media. But I am afraid that it will give us more government meddling and interfering on our devices. And that Apple and google are “forced” to do it. They of course have their own gains.
- abtinf 6mo ago> I am all for the ban of social media. But I am afraid that it will give us more government meddling and interfering on our devices. A “ban” is literally government interference. Pick a lane.
- tonyedgecombe 6mo ago>Pick a lane. You are either with us or against us.
- j16sdiz 6mo agointerference on the individuals or interference on companies / service providers?
- nslsm 6mo agoYou can’t interfere on one without interfering on the other.
- kdheiwns 6mo agoA ban explicitly requires government interference. That's what a ban is.
- brokenmachine 6mo agoI'm all for a ban which is simply, "any parent who allows their child to access social media will be sent to the gulag". Problem solved, and with minimal government meddling.
- steve-atx-7600 6mo agoCould there not be a reason that Apple made this choice involving their own legal risk? Sometimes what a law actually requires is up to what happens in court in the future.
- joecool1029 6mo agoI'm guessing Apple made the calculation that doing this was cheaper than litigating it. The slop submission in OP makes the claim that the law doesn't apply, but I skimmed it already and came to the conclusion it could apply and it will be up to the courts to make the precedent. Part 5 is too broadly written: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/part/5 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/part/5 'internet services' is extremely broad and could include apple's own appstore, icloud services, maybe even their browser could be considered software acting on behalf of a provider. Now of course they could be stretching, but OFCOM has their own overview that digs into just how broad they consider the legislation: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/online-safety/information-for-industry/illegal-harms/overview-of-regulated-services.pdf?v=387540 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/onli... With all this being said, I do think Apple probably could have fought it and even if they had to leave the UK market, they'd still be fine. They rely on China and South Korea to manufacture their devices so they would not be fine without these markets.
- cornholio 6mo agoIt's probably related to the fact that Apple doesn't see itself selling devices, you don't really buy and own the phone. You rent a device from them and the Apple account is the doorway to that subscription plan.
- subscribed 6mo agoThis is not a law in the UK. Apple doesn't need to fight anything.
- AlBugdy 6mo agoWhat do people expect when handing over their computing to a for-profit company? You can use various services where you knowingly hand over some of your data or offload a computational load, but with Apple it's like you're handing off the keys to your house, the plumbing, the electric wiring, the bricks, the alarm system and everything else to 1 entity. And you get upset when you realize you're just renting a property with less assurance you'd get from a slumlord in the ghetto. And for a lot of people that Apple property is their main computing property. Not a vacation home away from their desktop. Once they're evicted, once the slumlord disables the heating, increases the price of water or forbids you from inviting people, you have no other recourse.
- mlindner 6mo agoThis has more to do with the UK government than a "for-profit company". Apple has been one of the biggest forces pushing back against this kind of thing forever, at least in the US where companies still have rights.
- stavros 6mo agoNo it doesn't. The UK government instituted age checks for social media, Apple didn't like the UK government and enabled age checks for the OS, wanting to blame the government for it. It's done this sort of thing before.
- mlindner 6mo agoBecause social media is embedded into many apps.
- subscribed 6mo agoAnd why should they make it a problem of EVERYONE (primarily adults) using ANY app?
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- dfgi 6mo ago[flagged]
- samename 6mo agoWhy do you think this is exclusive to Apple? Android is rolling out age verification as well while simultaneously making side loading more difficult.
- stavros 6mo agoThis isn't a legal thing, it's Apple being Apple. The law is about platforms that deal in pornography, self harm, etc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_age_verification_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_age_verification_in_the...
- albedoa 6mo agoThe comment that you are replying to is saying that it's not exclusive to Apple and gives a non-Apple example. Your link has zero instances of the string "Apple". What am I missing. > The law is about platforms that deal in pornography, self harm, etc So...not exclusive to Apple.
- stavros 6mo agoIt's so not exclusive to Apple that it didn't even apply to Apple at all.
- Cider9986 6mo ago>I see "Big Brother Watch" has their own narrative to push though. The narrative that people have a right to privacy and we should prevent government overreach?
- unethical_ban 6mo ago[flagged]
- al_borland 6mo agoAs much as I'd like to see Apple fight this, shouldn't the blame be placed on the governments for compelling this, rather than on Apple? What is the alternative, pulling out of the UK? While I'd love this hard-line approach, as it might make other countries think twice, the stockholders probably wouldn't love it. > Laws like the Online Safety Act 2023 apply to websites and online services — not to entire phone operating systems. Doesn't this go back to companies like Meta lobbying to push the responsibility to the OS instead of taking it on themselves? I read they did that in the US, I can only assume they did it in the UK as well. Frankly, I'd rather have Apple qualify me as over 18 one time, and pass a simple boolean to a site vs having to upload proof (an ID, photos...) to every website I want to use. This may be the lesser of two evils.
- raw_anon_1111 6mo agoHow would Apple possibly fight a valid law of any country it operates in?
- joecool1029 6mo agoSo this is interesting. Apple's an incumbent, not some new disruptive company. What I mean to say is this isn't like a rideshare company that goes in burning money to build public sentiment while lobbying the politicians. Everyone knows who Apple is. I'm certain UK gov has been in constant communication with Apple on how this is to be rolled out. They would have communicated intent and received feedback from Apple as to how they'll ship it. It's within their capability to lobby/advertise opposition to laws like this but logical option in Apple's position is to insist on a common framework countries could use so they don't need to build a different verify for every country. I really do think Apple's primary opposition to not having E2EE is they didn't want to deal with the cost of complying with requests and the liability of hosting illegal content. That's the real pushback, because it's ongoing cost/liability to them.
- subscribed 6mo agoLaw doesn't require Apple to do it. It's simple as that. This is a VOLUNTARY act from Apple side but will be without doubt exploited by the overreaching, authoritarian country UK is now.
- userbinator 6mo agoThe amazing irony: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)
- Aurornis 6mo agoThis article is not great. It doesn't link to anything other than itself and two of those links are "donate" and "subscribe". I found this Apple Insider page with more information and an actual description of how it works, from someone doing journalism instead of soliciting donations and subscriptions: https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/02/25/how-age-verification-works-in-ios-264 https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/02/25/how-age-verificat... It's going to take some more searching to find an article that shows what age verification looks like for newer Apple accounts. According to that article if you have a long-standing Apple account and/or a credit card in your name in Apple Pay it might be enough to confirm you as 18+.
- zamadatix 6mo agoIt links to fca.org, gov.uk, and racfonudation.org. I think the goal of this page is activism rather than journalism though, and the donation links are a much more apt way for privacy activism funding than ads like on that news site.
- Aurornis 6mo agoI was looking for links or information about the age restrictions, not the other topics they were injecting. An article about the age restrictions should at least have some supporting evidence, or at minimum some screenshots like the article I linked.
- zamadatix 6mo agoAgree to disagree for the same reason the guidelines don't say anything about citing claims in comments: What you're looking for where claims are cited for a full background is provided, is not the only valid way to write something worthwhile on the internet. You insist this piece should be in the form of a cited and fully explanatory journalistic article when writing such a blog post signals no such goal. The intent here is to alert for support, not to be a news source about the topic. Adding the news piece is great for the conversation here, it's just dunking on the post for not being that type of piece itself is overly dismissive.
- ChrisArchitect 6mo agoAge requirements for managing an Apple Account in the UK https://support.apple.com/en-gb/126788 https://support.apple.com/en-gb/126788
- fxtentacle 6mo agoWhile I agree with the general argument that iOS shouldn’t limit the user’s freedom, it looks to me like Apple actually put in some effort to make this as privacy-preserving as possible. The article somewhat glosses over it, but you can buy a PASS age verification card at the local post office for 15£. That one is widely accepted and it doesn’t contain unnecessary information that might cause trouble if it leaked (like for example a passport does). And 1 in 3 adults (according to the article) have an Apple account that’s old enough so that they will automatically be unlocked, no further documents needed. The article strongly accuses iOS of being a walled garden, but I don’t see that as a particularly strong argument after iOS being locked down for ~20 years now. And as a parent, I know that if child protection is opt-in, there’ll be a huge fight about it, because some other parents won’t activate it, which then makes the situation unfair for the kids. I’d much rather have it on by default so that all kids are treated the same.
- AlBugdy 6mo agoiOS is a walled garden and it will be as strong an argument as ever, regardless of how long iOS has been a walled garden for. Also, don't you see how having to buy your privacy for 15£, even for 0.01£ is ridiculous? And to your last point - a parent can easily bypass all that bullshit if they wanted. They could let their kids use a normal computer without any walled gardens. What's to stop them from seeing 4chan or motherless or anything like that? Nothing. And nothing will unless you force all of society into your dystopic vision of a safe world for kids.
- inetknght 6mo agoYour phone should not have any business whatsoever collecting, checking, or verifying the age of the person using it. > And as a parent, I know that if child protection is opt-in, there’ll be a huge fight about it, because some other parents won’t activate it, which then makes the situation unfair for the kids. I’d much rather have it on by default so that all kids are treated the same. If you cared about your children, you would be against this. Otherwise you're fighting against your children's future; their privacy, their sanity, their ability to participate in a functioning democracy.
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- consoleable 6mo agoWhy have Western countries introduced so many laws that look like China’s? The government controls more and more individuals
- betaby 6mo agoBecause the West no longer competes with USSR.
- petre 6mo agoIt competes with China. But it's not like we can easily switch countries because of stupid laws, so what remains is to challrnge them. It only gives the wrong ideas to other wannabe autocrats.
- _3u10 6mo agoI can get you residency in a number of countries in about 30 to 60 days. It’s remarkably easy to change countries an American friend of mine has over 15 residencies leading to over 10 passports. No citizenship by investment non sense either.
- selfsigned 6mo agoWill this really do any good when this kind of legislation magically appears through lobbyists simultaneously across the West? Let's not forget that blocks like the EU also have significant bullying power via trade policy.
- 0x3f 6mo ago> 15 residencies leading to over 10 passports Unlikely, considering most places require you to fulfill the granted residency by actually physically being there. And are these even places you'd want to live?
- _3u10 6mo agoonly in the global north who want to you to spend half your time slaving for them. in the countries with privacy rights, and where slavery remains outlawed, the residency requirements are pretty minimal. would i want to live there? yes. most definitely.
- boysenberry 6mo agoI activated ADP as soon as it was available here, and I was hoping things would work out, and friends and family who missed the opportunity would be able to use it by now as well. I’m not pleased with this move, but its implementation has me wondering. I barely keep up with anything these days so I was taken by surprise after I updated. And, probably due to the decrepitude, I was annoyed for a few days that my phone had been nerfed and I had to roll back, before trying probably the first thing any younger person locked out would. I’m curious, if there’s anyone who hasn’t verified a spare account, if they would point their phone at things? It might take a moment, and there’s no real feedback until the phone accepts your evidence. People have said it takes other people’s credit cards and ID, but I’m wondering if it’ll accept a pet passport too, or really what the limit is.
- subscribed 6mo agoIf you rolled back make sure you're on 18.7.7 or you're exposed to the "DarkSword", active in the wild if I'm not mistaken. (I hope someone corrects me, I've read first hand sources but can't verify them independently)
- boysenberry 6mo agoIt’s ok, I’m on 26.4.1 now. But being potentially locked out from security updates was my main concern.
- ReptileMan 6mo agoThe joys of locked bootloaders strike again.
- guidedlight 6mo agoI would rather prove my age to Apple than [insert random website]. I think that’s what Apple is banking on. They sell privacy as a feature of their products, and I’m grateful for that.
- Doohickey-d 6mo agoAnd I would rather have the _choice_ whether to prove my age to Apple or not. I think if it were optional, with the additional option of "share my age with websites & apps", nobody would have an issue with it.
- tonyedgecombe 6mo agoIt is optional, you can skip past it. Presumably you will lose access to some websites and apps though.
- silon42 6mo agoThis is where the lack of installing software (sideloading) becomes problematic.
- guidedlight 6mo agoThe issue is that if you don’t prove your age, access is blocked. So it’s not optional. At least in Australia.
- defrost 6mo agoIt's entirely optional within Australia - I don't use Apple, nor do my kids or their kids.
- guidedlight 6mo agoIf a website/app requests you to prove your age, you can’t optionally avoid it and continue to use the website/app.
- matt123456789 6mo agoApple isn't doing shit except for following the law. If you don't like the law, change it. I will edit this to say, since I'm sure people are out there who will make this point: yes, I read the article. I disagree with it. "Not required by the OS" Well that isn't going to matter much when Apple gets hit with a big fat fine for "allowing" underage users on social media.
- subscribed 6mo agoLaw doesn't require Apple to do it.
- cedws 6mo agoFuck the bureaucrats responsible for this. I’m so sick of being completely powerless to fight any of this, being forced to sit and watch. Writing to my MP changes nothing. Signing petitions does nothing. The Government doesn’t give a fuck. They’ve had so many golden opportunities to differentiate themselves from the Tories and all they’ve done is carry the torch. I will vote for any party that promises to rewind this crap, I don’t care what other policies they have. Enough of the nannying.
- Fizzadar 6mo agoOne silver lining this is finally going to push me to switch to a dedicated camera and some niche unrestricted Linux or graphene device as a phone. Goodbye iPhone. (I say this as someone with an Apple account old enough to auto “qualify”, how lucky).
- subscribed 6mo agoIf you value security and privacy on the phone there's really no alternative to GrapheneOS or iPhone (comparable security, worse privacy). It's pixel only at the moment, new Motorola devices expected in 2027.
- pixel_popping 6mo agoLineageOS with no google services is fine too, most users don't actually need 90% of the Apps they are using.
- subscribed 6mo agoLineageOS doesn't come close in terms of security, however it's an amazing project for all the hardware abandoned by the vendors -- however I wouldn't go as far as telling people they're using their phones wrong and don't actually need to use 90% of they apps they use :)
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- tamimio 6mo agoYou can blame the government as much as you like, but this is actually has to do with british nature, they have an obsessive need for control, and if you worked with some you will immediately notice how they will try to make all sort of policies and shit to control the other party, all while they pretend they are open about hearing other’s opinions. So it kinda backfired, what goes around comes around.
- codeduck 6mo agoFunny; as a Brit I'd say the above is a classic hallmark of American companies. Brits are masters of malicious compliance.
- JimDabell 6mo ago> Brits are masters of malicious compliance. My favourite example of this was when Thatcher passed a law banning the broadcast of Sinn Féin. The BBC responded by dubbing the audio with actors’ voices. So you would watch the news and see an interview with Gerry Adams, but you would be hearing an actor speak his words, meaning the BBC were complying with the law by not broadcasting his voice.
- zimpenfish 6mo ago> The BBC responded by dubbing the audio with actors’ voices. Don't forget the cherry on top - an actor who sounded exactly like Gerry Adams / whoever.
- Anthony-G 6mo agoThat would be the fabulous stage, screen and voice actor, Stephen Rea.
- subscribed 6mo agoWell, now BBC is the far right megaphone / government propaganda outlet so that wouldn't happen today...
- wewewedxfgdf 6mo agoWhy stop at age? Not long till complete authentication of the human at every level is required to use a computer.
- devstatic 6mo agoThe real problem was never just checking age imo. It was deciding who deals with mistakes, who gets blamed when access is blocked wrongly, and how a normal user is supposed to fix it. Moving that to the phone makes it look cleaner, but mostly just pushes the mess into a layer people have even less control over.
- snvzz 6mo agoTo understand the age verification push, got to follow the incentives[0]. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfukJ6uVHXs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfukJ6uVHXs
- yoz-y 6mo agoI think this is trying to fix the wrong problem. As a soon to be parent I am not that worried about supposedly adult content, but I am genuinely concerned about peer pressure into joining various social media platforms and 4 year old with phones streaming cocomelon to my kid.
- enoint 6mo agoI have older kids. I worry about creeps masquerading as teenagers. On the other hand, if this moral panic reaches a point where manipulative political content is forbidden for some age bracket, I see a benefit for older people.
- unglaublich 6mo agoThis is what the people want and vote for? Can hardly blame Apple for following local regulations. Just sad that Western citizen are throwing hard earned privacy rights so easily out of the window. Giving in to the most trivial emotional blackmail.
- nslsm 6mo agoYou don’t get to vote for anything. I mean, you do, but the result will always be the same.
- subscribed 6mo agoIt would be a lie to claim that local regulations require that. I'm not saying you're lying, I'm saying you're misinformed.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- gloosx 6mo agoThinking that Apple would urgently reconsider anything because of some angry blog post is rather naive. Until this s tangibly affecting Apple's finances the probability they are giving a single shite is approaching zero. Pixel phones and GrapheneOS stonks up.
- sensanaty 6mo agoIt's funny, I'm less worried about supposed "adult" content than I am "age-appropriate" content that these platforms push onto kids. Anyone remember those creepy as fuck Spiderman Elsa videos pushed on youtube kids? Or hell, even "normal" content like MrBeast to me is infinitely more damaging to a kid's brain than porn or whatever other thing this policy bans. I'd much rather my kids regularly browse /b/ rather than consuming the brain rotting shit that MrBeast puts out.
- subscribed 6mo agoPrecisely. Yet in 2026 it's easier to get blocked by the os than to block the harmful content on YouTube (eg shorts).
- Havoc 6mo agoI’ll likely end up voting based on this issue. This dystopian track everyone but think of the children dystopian BS in the UK needs to stop. The issue is the parties taking a strong stance on this are not the ones I’d normally align with
- nacozarina 6mo agoThis will spawn at-least two crime waves: (1) boot sales of ‘unlocked’ edge devices infected with malware, and (2) senior-citizen identity-theft.
- _slih 6mo agosignal did everything right on their end. encrypted push, content only shown if the user opts in. the weak link is iOS caching decrypted notification content in an unencrypted sqlite database that survives app deletion. the 'e2e' in e2e encryption ends at the os, not the app.
- mxmilkiib 6mo agoI can't see my private messages on Bluesky, n eh I guess I never will
- bradley13 6mo agoCamel. Nose. Tent. For the moment, governments claim to want only she verification "for the children". Let's be honest: governments like the UK and Germany (to name two) are prosecuting people for posting unwanted opinions, or - heaver forfend - for insulting politicians. To pursue those prosecutions they need identities. Age verification is the first step towards requiring your real identity in social media.