Of all the things Apple’s iPhones can lay claim to first, it’s apparently device-level age verification that’s getting the attention now.

In the United Kingdom, Apple’s iOS got update 26.4 which, if you download it, you’ll need to confirm you’re over 18 by providing your credit card information or having your identification scanned. Underaged folks will get a communication safety filter applied to messages and to some extent, other applications will likely be affected insofar as the UK’s Online Safety Act goes.

Apple’s support page on the matter mentions that it’s for certain countries and regions, but it’s surprising that Apple rolled with it so quickly, and so soon after Discord promoted “teen-by-default” settings and age verification on its service and during the time when Meta was outed for purposefully lobbying age verification at the operating system level rather than on the app level.

How bad can it get?

While this appears currently to just be a United Kingdom thing, it stands to reason that the action — implementing device-level age checks on things you own — is here to stay.

The potential is here for a device-level age check to affect what applications a person can use, especially if the data provided by iPhone owners is shared with app developers.

As such, aside from the “THINK OF THE CHILDREN” concerns touted by some, it’s the data privacy and data security concerns I mostly want to contend with.

If data protections are robust, then it’s not as worrisome, but I’m not entirely sure there’s any technical infrastructure available – do they even want such infrastructure in place? – to support preventing the data from being misused by bad actors or abusive apps.

Moreover, doing a device-level check where you share that age and identification data with every app you use sounds like a security logistics nightmare. All it takes is one effective security breach to leave your identity data exposed and ripe for criminals to take advantage of.

Is switching to Android advisable?

Should you switch to Google’s Android? It depends on how long you can expect a reprieve from age verification at the device level to occur.

Google already has age verification in the Google Play Store, but that’s not on par with a device-level age check.

That said, it may just be a matter of time before Google capitulates to the UK’s stringent guidelines — with application of such a check possibly spreading to other countries as governments mimic each other in action.

While Android has enjoyed a bit of fame with the ability to sideload apps — basically manually installing apps onto your Android smartphone — that may also be coming to an end in September as developer verification will be required by that time to allow an app to be installed.

There’s not much an individual can do but wait for the inevitable… and unless you have the ability to set up a robust cybersecurity infrastructure that protects your country’s data or lobby for such before implementing age verification in a country, we might all be getting our IDs stolen at some later date. – Rappler.com