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New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

bigbrotherwatch.org.uk

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Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#11

Post by abtinf »

peterspath wrote: post #2

This 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.

> 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.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#12

Post by al_borland »

As 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.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#15

Post by Aurornis »

This 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-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+.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#16

Post by fxtentacle »

While 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.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#17

Post by mlindner »

stavros wrote: post #8
mlindner wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This 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.

No 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.

Because social media is embedded into many apps.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#19

Post by AlBugdy »

fxtentacle wrote: post #16

While 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 (li…

iOS 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.

Re: New iPhone age and identity checks restrict internet freedom in the UK

#20

Post by inetknght »

fxtentacle wrote: post #16

While 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 (li…

Your 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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