Apple will become the latest company to introduce controversial age verification rules in its latest update and failing to comply could limit what you are able to do.
Since the UK government made some serious changes to the Online Safety Act last year, websites featuring adult or harmful content have been forced to introduce highly effective age verification checks.
Perhaps the biggest change was in the adult industry, with under 18s now unable to access sex content in the UK without exploiting a loophole, as those in charge look to prevent children from accessing sex content at an inappropriate age.
The changes made by Ofcom do force tech companies to strengthen child safety protection but Apple is set to take things one step further by introducing age checks as part of its iOS 26.4 software update.
Advert
Anyone updating their device software in the coming days and weeks will be faced with a message that says: "UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions."
Apple states that it will then ask you to confirm in setting that you are an adult, either through existing information, or scanning an ID or credit card.
Naturally, some users may well be reticent about uploading their IDs or credit cards, considering nearly every scammer out there would probably ask for a similar thing, but this is a very real request from Apple that will need to be fulfilled.
If you choose to ignore it then be warned that you could have your internet browsing, specifically the Safari app, restricted. Unsurprisingly, access adult content and websites will also be automatically limited.
Users, presumably parents on their children's phones, can also limit access to predetermined websites and can introduce a customisable block list.
The reaction to this has been mixed, with many making reference to George Orwell's Big Brother, while others have pointed towards the success of Australia's social media ban for under 18s, something which the UK government is also set to trial on teenagers.
Anyone under the age of 18 may have to simply remain patient when it comes to certain actions on their iPhones or other Apple technology, whereas adults who simply don't want to verify their age will struggle to access all the content they are used to having.
The regulator Ofcom has since called the move a 'real win for children and families', but Silkie Carlo, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, was less keen on the news.
She wrote: “It is absolutely outrageous that, overnight, Apple has put a chokehold on Britons’ freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents. This means 35 million Brits who have paid hundreds or even thousands of pounds for Apple tech suddenly now have a child’s device unless they comply with invasive demands for personal information that go far beyond what UK law requires.
"Apple has crossed the Rubicon with this software update which is more like ransomware, holding customers hostage to ID demands that are invasive, exclusionary and unnecessary. Children’s online safety is vital but requires better parental controls and thoughtful tech responsibility – not sweeping, draconian, shock demands by foreign companies for all of our IDs and credit cards.”
James Moorhouse