Individuals in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore are unable to download applications rated 18 or older until their age is verified.
Individuals in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore are unable to download applications rated 18 or older until their age is verified.
Apple, similar to many others, has been compelled to introduce age verification functionalities in accordance with new mandates for age verification in various locations, and on Tuesday, the company revealed further information regarding its tools available for developers to ensure they meet their age verification requirements under upcoming U.S. and regional regulations, including in Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Utah, and Louisiana.
A significant update is that individuals in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore are prohibited from downloading applications rated 18 or older until their age is validated through “reasonable methods,” which can be confirmed automatically by the App Store. Apple emphasizes that developers still may have “separate responsibilities to independently ascertain that their users are adults,” and they can employ Apple’s Declared Age Range API, introduced last year for app developers to request users’ age range details to assist.
Additionally, Apple is declaring that, starting May 6th for new Apple Account users in Utah and July 1st for those in Louisiana, “age categories will be provided to the developer’s app when solicited through the Declared Age Range API.”
There are also “new signals” accessible to developers through the Declared Age Range API, “including whether age-related regulatory mandates are relevant to the user and if the user is obligated to disclose their age range,” Apple mentions. “The API will also indicate if parental or guardian consent is necessary for significant app updates for a child.”
