Apple will allow parents to share their children's ages and will update ratings to enhance their protection.

      In recent years, the discussion surrounding the digital safety of children has intensified. For instance, Australia plans to prohibit social media usage for individuals under 16 years old. However, implementing such regulations is quite challenging. Research by the nation's online safety authority reveals that many children can easily circumvent age restriction measures. What about identity verification via nationally-recognized documents? Experts caution that this could lead to significant privacy concerns, particularly given the questionable practices of social media companies.

      Apple may compromise on this issue later this year. In a white paper, the company outlined various modifications to the parental control system aimed at safeguarding children from harmful applications and software.

      To facilitate this, Apple will permit parents to share a general age range of their children with apps, ensuring that these applications only provide access to age-appropriate content. This approach allows parents to avoid disclosing their children’s precise ages by verifying them with identification documents, such as IDs or birth certificates.

      “Through this new feature, parents can enable their children to share the age range linked to their Child Accounts with app developers,” the company states. The age details will be communicated via an API, and once implemented, apps will automatically default to displaying content suitable for the specified age.

      Apple describes the Declared Age Range API as a "narrowly tailored, data-minimizing, privacy-protecting tool." It's noteworthy that app developers will not have direct access to this information unless parents explicitly grant permission. Furthermore, parents can revoke the sharing of age range data at any time.

      Additionally, Apple plans to simplify the process of establishing a child account for parents. If parents do not fully set the appropriate age-related settings, the company will automatically apply protective measures as a default, ensuring that children are shielded from inappropriate content on their iPhones or iPads.

      Moreover, Apple aims to make it easier for parents to update their children's ages within the parental control dashboard. For instance, if guardians fail to properly set the Child Account with the correct age, they will be prompted to connect it with the Family group to remedy this. Once this is done, the account will revert to displaying content appropriate for the child's age.

      Apple will also request developers to provide more comprehensive information about their applications, including cases where they showcase sensitive content and the types of material accessible through their apps. After receiving this information, Apple will assign a more detailed age rating to these apps. Instead of a binary rating system, the App Store will categorize apps into three distinct groups: 13+, 16+, and 18+, based on the intended audience.