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Apple unveils child privacy feature

2 4
01.03.2025
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The Big Story

Apple unveils ‘age assurance’ technology

Apple will introduce technology to boost children’s privacy and safety on its devices, the company announced this week amid a larger debate surrounding children's digital privacy.

© Getty

With the new technology, parents will be able to select the age range of their kids instead of providing their exact birthdates when setting up child accounts, Apple wrote in a white paper.

This would be done before young users download apps from third-party developers, who will soon be able to use a “Declared Age Range API” that gives them access to this range.

“As with everything we do, the feature will be designed around privacy and users will be in control of their data,” Apple wrote. “The age range will be shared with developers if and only if parents decide to allow this information to be shared, and they can also disable sharing if they change their mind.”

It comes amid a wider national debate over the role technology companies play in protecting children and teens online.

At least nine states have recently introduced bills that would require app-store operators to check users’ ages and confirm parental consent before minors can download the applications.

Apple has long argued the responsibility is on third-party app developers to verify users’ age.

The technology company argues a requirement to verify age on the actual app marketplace would make all users hand over sensitive information, when only a limited number of apps need such specific information about users.

Meanwhile, other technology companies like Meta, X and Snap have argued the onus is on the app stores themselves.

In a letter earlier this month, Meta, Snap and X came out in support of a South Dakota Senate bill that would require app stores to verify users’ ages prior to downloads.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

 

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