An Age Range API Is Coming to iOS Later This Year ⇥ techcrunch.com

Apple today announced a series of child safety enhancements in the form of a PDF document which, so far as I can tell, is not listed anywhere on its website. The company is developing a habit of sending PDF links directly to media outlets to circulate. Among the forthcoming features is an API to confirm a user’s age range.

Sarah Perez, TechCrunch:

Apple historically has pushed for third-party app developers to verify kids’ ages, while large tech companies like Meta have lobbied that app store operators should handle age verification as they have this information about their users already.

The iPhone maker’s new solution is something of a compromise. It puts Apple in the position of collecting kids’ ages via parental input but still puts the onus on the third-party developer to extract and use this information to craft age-appropriate experiences in their own apps.

A predictable and, I think, correct outcome. I was wrong about it being a device-level feature, but it makes complete sense for age verification to be part of a child’s Apple Account information instead of collected individually by third-party apps. On the fifth page of the PDF, Apple explains why it has been reluctant to be a gatekeeper in this instance:

Requiring age verification at the app marketplace level is not data minimization. While only a fraction of apps on the App Store may require age verification, all users would have to hand over their sensitive personally identifying information to us — regardless of whether they actually want to use one of these limited set of apps. That means giving us data like a driver’s license, passport, or national identification number (such as a Social Security number), even if we don’t need it. And because many kids in the U.S. don’t have government-issued IDs, parents in the U.S. will have to provide even more sensitive documentation just to allow their child to access apps meant for children. That’s not in the interest of user safety or privacy.

This is a direct response to a proposed U.S. law that would require Apple — and Google — to verify ages at the App Store level; it says its solution is an effective alternative. It may well be, but I do not buy this line of argument. It could, for example, wait to verify a user’s age until they attempt to download an app where it would be needed. Also, while Apple’s own data collection would be minimized by hypothetically offloading that responsibility onto third-parties, it would increase the number of copies of this sensitive information floating around. Put it this way: if you had the choice of verifying your age with Apple one time, or needed to send that documentation individually to Bluesky, Meta, X, and other third-party developers, which would you choose? I think even the most reticent iPhone user would pick a one-time Apple validation.

Riley Testut is optimistic this API will be available in third-party app marketplaces. I hope that is the case.