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News & Current Events Mar 30, 2026 at 10:56 PM

Millions of UK iPhone users locked into “child by default” mode in age verification debacle

Posted by greggy187

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mikeholczer Mar 30, 2026 +833
If only someone had warned the government that this was a bad idea /s
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mineyCrafta25 Mar 31, 2026 +224
They would've been warned. And promptly ignored it. Because that was never the point.
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Gow87 Mar 31, 2026 -55
This is Apple's decision, not the government.
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Shockingandawesome Mar 31, 2026 +80
To comply with government spying aka verification regulations.
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SavageRabbitX Mar 31, 2026 -39
Bro . Do you really think that GCHQ doesn't know exactly who you are, where you are and who you associate with? GCHQ make the NSA look like a well regulated and friendly agency
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Shockingandawesome Mar 31, 2026 +17
It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court.
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MechanicalHorse Mar 31, 2026 +7
What kind of fuckass argument is this?! “It’s ok that they do it because they already know who you are” It’s attitudes like yours that exacerbate the f****** surveillance state.
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Gow87 Mar 31, 2026 -49
And how do the government get this information?
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Shockingandawesome Mar 31, 2026 +24
That they admit to: police requests. "Oi Apple, who's this Gow87 bloke who said he filled a jerry can without a loicence?"
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Semajal Mar 31, 2026 +2
They can do that without age verification. Only real issue has been age verification not complying with laws on data retention, if data is deleted/wiped then it isn't an issue.
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Gow87 Mar 31, 2026 -22
Ok... So what's changed? My internet usage all goes via my ISP - they can request access for that at any time if they think I'm guilty of a serious crime. Except now maybe there's a sea of identity verifiers they'd need to reach out to, to find out what websites I've been accessing. Many of whom will likely not keep records because it exposed them to greater risk. The websites themselves don't receive my ID, just that I'm verified, so that's a moot point. I get that it's fun to pretend the government are out to get us but they can't currently connect their own data sources - why do you think they're suddenly capable of accessing all this new data strewn across hundreds of websites and services? Are they inept or are they the greatest digital forensics minds on the planet? I'm struggling to keep track.
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Serious_Johnson Mar 31, 2026 +13
The difference is the ISP can only see the logs for the connection, that could be any number of users behind the router. Now they have a confirmed ID associated with a device that did or said something online.
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Gow87 Mar 31, 2026 -1
But how do they have that? Right now they have the traffic and likely the mac address of the device being used. So if it's on a mobile device they can likely join those dots further. But the crux of it is you don't need to provide ID to prove age - that's specifically laid out in the guidelines from Ofcom. There are hundreds of ID services out there for those businesss that do utilise an ID verification as their means. There are millions of websites. Are you suggesting they each provide their data straight to the government somehow? I don't disagree that this is a privacy nightmare but the amount of tinfoil hats flying around is mad. Digital ID with zero knowledge proofs (what the government are proposing) has the potential to solve the problem but then the tinfoil brigade kicked off about that too.
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gordonjames62 Mar 31, 2026 +1
> Ok... So what's changed? My internet usage all goes via my ISP It changes many things. Some of us bother with privacy protection through various means. When Apple decides after the fact to force us to give them and government more data - it is unacceptable.
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Semajal Mar 31, 2026 +2
Yup, this looks like Apple not doing the best job at implementation. Esp not accepting other ID/passports.
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mikeholczer Mar 31, 2026 +3
How else could they have implemented the system while still complying with the law?
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Gow87 Mar 31, 2026 +1
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/protecting-children/age-checks-for-online-safety--what-you-need-to-know-as-a-user Have a look. Plenty of options
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3scap3plan Mar 31, 2026 -20
*previous government
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dafydd_ Mar 31, 2026 +30
Aye, the current government wanted to go further.
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not_a_Badger_anymore Mar 31, 2026 +18
The current government still implemented it, dont let them get away without taking some blame.
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[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -177
[deleted]
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mikeholczer Mar 30, 2026 +89
Yeah, and the technical experts all said there isn’t a way to do this without significantly impacting huge numbers of adults in a negative way.
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xParesh Mar 31, 2026 -58
I don’t see a problem at all here. The OSA had one of the highest number of people signing a petition against it and a few opposition parties have promised to repeal it. Labour are down in the polls and thought the best way forward was to come up with even more unpopular policies. It would be far more worrying for liberally minded people if they were pushing these policies and maintaining popularity but it’s seems they’re on their way out and the next government will just erase all their beloved policies too
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upthetruth1 Mar 31, 2026 +7
“Next government” True, a government with Greens in it, who don’t like OSA, and Lib Dems who are neutral on it
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TrumanZi Mar 31, 2026 +1
Lib Dems aren't neutral. Leadership have been forced to stand down on the topic a bit because the membership voted against it. Membership overrules leadership. So they aren't neutral, they have been humiliated by their own members and are now having a bit of a strop and refusing to comment on it whatsoever. Get Davey out and then they can actually hold a stance against it
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upthetruth1 Mar 31, 2026 +1
Yet who would replace Ed Davey?
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TrumanZi Mar 31, 2026 +1
Honestly, I think he needs to go, but I can't see anyone obvious to replace him. The party seems to have lost its way somewhat since the coalition. It's one of the reasons I left.
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upthetruth1 Mar 31, 2026 +1
What do you think of Babarinde?
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TrumanZi Mar 31, 2026 +1
Not aware of him just looked him up. Clearly an impressive and passionate guy, and I think a gay leader would be good to finally shake the tim farron nonsense. Bit soon though considering he's only been an MP 2 years, but I'll be very surprised if he isn't leader at some point. I think next leader will be daisy, and I think she will do a good job especially against farage/Zack political extremes
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[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -92
[deleted]
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mikeholczer Mar 30, 2026 +40
Are you saying the issue outlined in this article was widely discussed and understood by the population?
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Syssareth Mar 30, 2026 +37
More than that, are they unironically saying it's a *good* thing? I thought their first comment was a bit.
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JamMichaelVincent Mar 31, 2026 +30
‘Cross party support’ does not mean public support. Clown show comment. Under labour personal freedoms are certainly changing. None of which was in their manifesto.
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +23
No what cross party support shows is that politicians on both sides decided that is what we want and ignored experts. The laws are not well thought out or implemented. This was shown when shortly after implementation people were using the face of a video game character to pass the age verification checks. What it does mean is that a bunch of companies now no longer do business or let UK residents access their websites such as Imgur because they didn't think that implementing age checks was worth the time and costs and just cut the UK off instead. It also shows that our politicians don't know what a VPN is or a proxy site is. Any even remotely tech savvy teen can bypass the law, Hell even tech illiterate ones can if they use the wonderful thing that is Google searching. To summarise it is a law no one really wanted, implemented poorly, has many problems and can be bypassed by those it is supposed to protect. Great job.....
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YurgenJurgensen Mar 31, 2026 +25
Naturally, as an opponent of online anonymity, you’re posting under a pseudonym and hiding your activity. Please demonstrate your commitment to the Online Safety Act by posting a picture of your face, government-issued identification and proof-of-address. After all, if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide.
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[deleted] Mar 31, 2026 -4
[deleted]
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AlternativeHour1337 Mar 31, 2026 +4
the entire thing would be pointless then
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[deleted] Mar 31, 2026 -1
[deleted]
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AlternativeHour1337 Mar 31, 2026 +3
the data needs to be stored to be able to tell if someone already verified or not - and even when its stored, parents can verify their devices and let the children use it
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YurgenJurgensen Mar 31, 2026 +4
Given that three of them are already under investigation for GDPR violations and one of them has already been breached and leaked 70,000 records they said they weren’t storing, it doesn’t matter what they say, the data always ends up in the hands of cyber criminals, intelligence agencies and advertisers somehow. Or: They don’t trust me, so why should I trust them?
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[deleted] Mar 31, 2026
[deleted]
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IntelArtiGen Mar 30, 2026 +382
What the hell is going on with all this age verification stuff in UK? I surely hope the EU doesn't copy that.
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +304
It's c***, it really is. It's a pain in the arse to do and at the end of the day doesn't prevent kids from seeing things they shouldn't.
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Anxious_cactus Mar 31, 2026 +172
Especially because parents are weak and will verify stuff for kids because they get tired of being pestered for access to Youtube, Instagram etc. A lot of parents are completely irresponsible when it comes to the internet and this does nothing, bunch of them will upload their own ID if necessary and open a social media account for their kids
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +59
Also there are things that could fall foul of age verification if sites panic that should be accessible to teens at the least such as info on sexuality, safe sex etc.
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Katakoom Mar 31, 2026 +21
Internet culture/sites have also become way too liberal with tagging things as NSFW. Not just info like you've described, but also menial things as a joke. Like when you're looking at a sublistnook for a game and someone tags a post NSFW because a rock formation in-game looks funny in that context. I'm not saying that's a significant problem, just that people might want to start thinking about how and when they use such tools - because we're moving past the point where it's just a bit of fun and your post gets blurred until opened, now you're just actively censoring your own content to a lot of people.
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Zanki Mar 31, 2026 +9
Can't even see anything tagged nsfw. Can't see a persons profile if they've posted somewhere nsfw.
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VesaAwesaka Mar 31, 2026 +2
Very common for sports sublistnook to mark something as NSFW if player has a really good game or bad game. Just saw it today on the NBA listnook page.
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BialyKrytyk Mar 31, 2026 +3
Worth mentioning that plenty of unsafe sites will just ignore it anyway. The only sites that make you verify are the ones that comply with UK law in general, so congratulations, by locking your teenagers away from normal adult content for sane people they'll just go straight for the extreme unregulated stuff.
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +1
Yeah it's all just a bit shit all round for everyone. Adults, teens, everyone.
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Combat_Orca Mar 31, 2026 +2
You don’t need to do that even. There’s tons of adult stuff still available, it’s just not the mainstream sites.
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ashoka_akira Mar 31, 2026 +4
Yea this is the issue, this law is a bandage cure for the problem of indifferent parenting. The same people who are being expected to enforce it are the reason why the problem exists. Or the real problem with parents restricting internet access to their children is that requires them to be semi tech literate, which they obviously aren’t, which is kinda sad, imagine being addicted to technology but not even understanding the basics of how it works.
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StevenXSG Mar 31, 2026 -4
In the age of ai, social media sites should very easily be able to go on a monthly audit if your account says "your behaviour patterns look like that of an underage user, please immediately re-verify"
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eww1991 Mar 31, 2026 +7
Oh they were very good at tracking underage users, and then went a used that to targeting them to keep them on the site. And that's what they got found guilty of doing literally last week.
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Old_Leopard1844 Mar 31, 2026 +2
Are you going to monthly reupload your ID then?
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StevenXSG Mar 31, 2026 -2
If detected as actually lying about your age
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Old_Leopard1844 Mar 31, 2026 +3
If AI decided that you're lying about your age, will you reupload your ID every time it did?
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Bunnymancer Mar 31, 2026 +1
Is this your first time in the UK?
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +1
No I have been to the UK many times over my last 50 years of living there since I was born in the UK. I have left a few times over the years but I always end up visiting the UK for years at a time as my house is there. In short I am British and lived there my whole life.
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boredcircuits Mar 31, 2026 +26
Colorado is proposing it in the US as well.
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czs5056 Mar 31, 2026 +3
Missouri already has it for looking at b****. Or so some guy at work says. ... Don't ask me how I know.
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Darkone539 Mar 31, 2026 +26
> I surely hope the EU doesn't copy that.The EU approach to age verification | Shaping Europe’s digital future https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-age-verification The eu are offering a government way to verify, but the rules are basically the same
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RummyRumsfeld Mar 31, 2026 +63
Oh, we will. We will ban social media for kids (Austria just went first) and wouldn’t you know it we‘ll all need age verification and later on say goodbye to anonymity, cause that enables toxicity
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xternal7 Mar 31, 2026 +7
>anonymity, cause that enables toxicity Have you ever been to Facebook lol?
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RummyRumsfeld Mar 31, 2026 +4
Not saying im agreeing with the sentiment, it’s patently absurd, but it’s what will be the argument. Right now there’s a push for using only your real name in any social media, forums etc in Germany.
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hardboard Mar 31, 2026 -60
I take it you're still a kid, as you can't differentiate between Austria and Australia.
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ComplexAsk1541 Mar 31, 2026 +44
Um... [https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/03/27/austria-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-children-under-14-following-global-trend](https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/03/27/austria-moves-to-ban-social-media-for-children-under-14-following-global-trend)
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hardboard Mar 31, 2026 -4
I apologise. I wrote my comment based on the fact Australia banned social media for under sixteens in 2025. I wrote sarcastically, guessing that your post had been autocorrected from Australia to Austria.
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RobGrey03 Mar 31, 2026 +6
an understandable mistake, honestly *grumbles in Australian because we did do first and it's all dumb as bricks*
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Kurtino Mar 31, 2026 +30
The EU adopts it 12 months after the UK, this was always the plan. The UK right now is just a test bed for some reason.
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Sensitive_Box_ Mar 31, 2026 +6
I can't tell of your being sarcastic, or have been living under a rock. Lol  The whole world is attempting to invade our privacy right now... 
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Bathhouse-Barry Mar 31, 2026 +2
UK? Mate it’s most the western world.
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ARobertNotABob Mar 31, 2026 +2
Same as everywhere else, virtue signalling hiding efforts by governments to identify and track citizens online.
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peldor Mar 31, 2026 +5
This “age verification stuff” is being pushed by Meta/Facebook and a few big tech firms…it’s the latest method to allow them to track your Internet activity. The EU is unlikely to follow the UK on this one.
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xParesh Mar 31, 2026 +2
The UK is battling with North Korea for having the most restricted access. Every new draconian policy is labelled "its to protect children" even though it does nothing of the sort.
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WarpedHaiku Mar 31, 2026 +1
This particular instance is probably due to what's happening in the US. Various states have passed laws which require operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows, etc) and/or their providers (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc) to collect information about the age of an account. The idea being that apps (and app stores) can then filter out inappropriate apps, and browsers can relay "I'm under 18" to websites, without having to put your identity at risk. Seeing as the UK rolled out the stupidest and most draconian of variation of the law, we'd be considered an ideal testing ground, since most people will automatically blame the government and let Apple avoid the bad PR. So we get to beta test their first and crappiest implementation, while they identify and fix all the pain points in preparation for their actual US rollout. The really dumb thing is, having the age specified at device account level is the second best way to implement an age gate, (with the best obviously being not implementing one at all) - it's far superior to the "upload your passport/driving license to every random dodgy website" method. But Apple haven't even done that, and appear to have gone for an extremely dumb implementation that involves verifying the user using proxies for the age like credit cards and not allowing them to just specify the age themselves.
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Nandulal Mar 31, 2026 +1
US is doing it also soon
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kl122002 Mar 31, 2026 +128
Is it possible to have an elder's mode by default? I want my mother to stay out addicted to phone and scams.
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Rayl24 Mar 31, 2026 +40
The older they are, the closer their cognitive capabilities is to a child
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kl122002 Mar 31, 2026 +30
Seriously, i feel desperate that i have to keep telling my parents about AI gen fake reels , stories that are made up or not existed. As a son, i am so exhausted in tracking, and worried my parents would lose their savings entirely because they trusted a scam for just once. The whole social media world seems they did nothing to handle about this.
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ICantBelieveItsNotEC Mar 31, 2026 +1
Babies are like little old people. Another of the great theories!
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Chafupa1956 Mar 31, 2026 +4
Circle of life. We come into the world fully dependent on others and if we are "lucky" we leave the same way.
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luksfuks Mar 31, 2026 +112
I bet these millions of users are still considered able to give consent to be tracked and data-mined.
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IsTim Mar 31, 2026 +27
To my disappointment I got auto adult as I’ve had my Apple account for so long, which was nice and sad at the same time
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jphamlore Mar 31, 2026 +48
> While around 75% of the adult population holds a driving licence, many have let their licences lapse or have not updated to digital ones. So why not have a parallel id card for those no longer able to drive, or who don't qualify to drive?
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Darkone539 Mar 31, 2026 +44
This is basically what national id cards are, and they were so unpopular the government was forced to roll back the idea they were mandatory.
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obscure_monke Mar 31, 2026 +9
There's a thing called a "citizencard" in the UK that's issued by a private company, but apple accepts it and it's suggested by a bunch of police agencies. Due to EU law (that still exists in UK law, I think) government issued ID cards need to have NFC-readable biometrics like fingerprints and a photo of your face. Ireland side-stepped this by introducing passport cards which are only valid for 5 years, and only contain a black and white image of your face as biometrics. (similarly, we didn't like the idea of national ID cards. especially if everyone needed to be fingerprinted for it) Whenever Ireland gets this stupid idea applied here, I hope age cards (proof of age, but not ID. intended for buying booze) work for it.
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vaska00762 Mar 31, 2026 +5
The Passport Card is €35, or if you apply for a passport card renewal at the same time as passport book, it's €100 (just passport book is €75). It's a fully valid identification document within the EU, which is a lot more convenient than carrying a passport everywhere. In Germany, for example, they take the attitude that a driving licence is "only proof you are allowed to drive", so it's a worthless thing to use there. But a Passport Card is treated as "proof of identity". A bunch of other EU member states also are equally weird about driving licences not being deemed proof of identity or age.
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Grantmitch1 Mar 31, 2026 +1
> only proof you are allowed to drive By that logic, surely it is only proof that someone is allowed to drive. Unless the driving licence acts as a form of identification itself, logically it would require an additional form of identification to confirm that 1) you are who you say you are; 2) the licence does indeed belong to you and demonstrates you are qualified and licenced to drive.
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vaska00762 Mar 31, 2026 +2
You're thinking too much about German Bureaucracy™️. If you've gotten a DB train ticket that's issued in your name, to prove to the conductor that you're actually the person named on that ticket, you must have: - A passport - A national ID card - a DB issued BahnCard with your name on it - a Credit Card with your name on it A driving licence is not acceptable proof of identification because "it only proves you are allowed to drive". And before anyone mentions that neither a BahnCard nor a Credit Card has your picture on it... German Bureaucracy™️ does not care. Let's say you've missed a package delivery from Deutsche Post. It's something too big to have fitted in your post box. So now you must go to the Postamt to collect your package. You must present photographic ID that matches the name on the package. For this you'll need to prove not only your identity, but then also prove you live there. For photo ID, you'll need either a Passport or a National ID card. For proof of address, you'll need a Wohnsitzanmeldung. Don't have one yet? Too bad, your package goes straight back to sender. Did you just ask why your driving licence, with your address on it cannot be accepted? You'll get the same delightful answer: "it only proves you are allowed to drive". If I didn't know any better, I suspect the problem might be that the authority that issues driving licences don't perform strenuous enough identity verification, which could theoretically enable someone to have a licence in a false name. I probably also assume that given how often someone might change address, especially in Germany where renting is the norm, and home ownership is uncommon (local authorities require home owners keep their homes up to spec), maybe it's normal for these documents to become out of date.
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[deleted] Mar 31, 2026 -2
[deleted]
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Zireael07 Mar 31, 2026 +7
How do driving licenses work in UK? In my country you can''t get one if your visual or hearing acuity is low enough, which excludes a lot of elderly folks. Also elderly folks can only get a driving license only for a limited time, like 2 years or so, and then they need to reapply subject to the previous sentence. This means that a majority of folks above a certain age do NOT have a driving license period
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fearghul Mar 31, 2026 +5
You can't get a provisional if you have any condition that would preclude you from driving.
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Realistic-Nobody-750 Mar 30, 2026 +11
Millions? Is crazy
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vaska00762 Mar 31, 2026 +10
Not unexpected given the iPhone is typically issued as a work phone across both private and public sector employment. Most MDM policies mandate everyone is on the latest iOS version, and if you only use your work phone for Teams, 2FA, phoning in sick or emails, you're probably never going to bother giving your corporate Amex to prove your age. I've kept my personal phone on iOS 16 due to the bugs and increased battery use, but I might just keep it on that version permanently, or at least until apps stop working, because it just seems pointless.
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huskypuppers Mar 31, 2026 +11
>Not unexpected given the iPhone is typically issued as a work phone across both private and public sector employment. If this happened to me on a work phone I'd just hand it to it and tell them to fix it. Not in my employment contract to verify my age on a company phone, they can figure out a way around it.
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vaska00762 Mar 31, 2026 +1
I didn't do the age verification on my work phone, and so far, all the corporate apps I use are unaffected. Would be hilarious if a majority of the "child" accounts were for office workers.
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fuck_ur_portmanteau Mar 31, 2026 -1
Millions are not locked. Millions could be locked if everyone who owned an iphone also didn’t qualify under the other criteria, which they mostly do. It’s likely to affect some hundreds of thousands of
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ashoka_akira Mar 31, 2026 +6
You’re a child but also, why haven’t you filed your taxes yet!
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OldLondon Mar 31, 2026 +14
Note that the OSA doesn’t require anything at all device level it’s something Apple decided to do going way above and beyond what they need to do - which really is nothing as it’s down to apps and sites to police this stuff - not the device manufacturers, UK gov didn’t ask for this.  Not agreeing or disagreeing, just stating the facts.
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donalmacc Mar 31, 2026 +6
If the OSA requires sites to age verify, there is a 0% chance of me uploading my drivers license/passport to discord/listnook to access content about alcohol. Apple already have a credit card in my name, I’d much rather that the website asked my phone than made me upload. Of course, the whole thing is a waste of time and resources
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tehherb Mar 31, 2026 +2
I believe there's a push in general and from companies like meta to push the responsibility to the OS level so they can just wash their hands of it and not need to bother.
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nitram20 Mar 31, 2026 +9
I’m extremely happy that my lack of storage space prevents my phone from updating.
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asfish123 Mar 31, 2026 +3
I'm getting nagged to do it on my phone; I have 4 credit cards in my wallet. There also appears to be no blocks in place. It's a work phone, so maybe the management software is the reason
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-Radiation Mar 31, 2026 +3
Who could have thought that getting into walled garden platforms would lead to this
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dr_herbalist Mar 31, 2026 +5
Android will do the same. Its not the choice of Apple
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-Radiation Mar 31, 2026 -4
Apple is going even beyond what is needed. Plus, Android is not all locked down yet, it would be much easier to bypass it. Plus it is much easier to fork it. Maybe that holds true for major brands, which basically is another form of walled gardens, but Android offers other alternatives.
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dr_herbalist Mar 31, 2026 +5
Yes it could potentially be bypassed by more experienced users on Android, but when manufacturers get pushed to make the same changes there will be millions of people on Android with the exact same situation, Apple walled-garden or not.
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-Radiation Mar 31, 2026
But you can get around it in open software like Android
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dr_herbalist Mar 31, 2026 +5
Not necessarily. You have for example the Knox bit on Samsung. If you root the device a fuse blows and then certain cryptographic features are disabled. So you might be able to work around it but you may lose other features. Plus, how many ordinary people out there will be rooting their phone to bypass the age verification checks, as oppose to just providing their ID.
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-Radiation Mar 31, 2026 +2
Yes but Samsung is not the only representative of Android or open software. It is just an Android partial walled garden. I was mentioning the relying on walled garden platforms. You can still get Android that is not walled garden. The point is if we were not reliant on walled garden platforms this would be much less of an issue, as the blocks couldn’t be really easily implemented on device
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OneAndOnlyJackSchitt Apr 1, 2026 +1
My hope is that when California's law comes into effect requiring OSs to have a mandatory age field for users at the OS level, it's intentionally implemented so spectacularly badly that the State Assembly and the State Legislature have to hold emergency sessions at like 4am to reverse it. I feel like Apple and Google have enough sway to do stuff like this. Every phone in the state locked into child mode. Emergency meeting since legislators can't properly use their phones until their ID is manually verified (please allow up to 48 hours for verification to complete). Overturn the law. Child mode reversed state-wide within 10 minutes.
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gordonjames62 Mar 31, 2026 +2
why would I want to give Apple a copy of my drivers ID or my credit card info?
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[deleted] Mar 30, 2026 -4
[deleted]
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JamMichaelVincent Mar 31, 2026 +11
Because f****** skeletons in lords are designing the law. The same group who would need help downloading an app.
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billy_tables Mar 31, 2026 +7
The OSA was written in the commons by a few different ministers, not the lords 
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JamMichaelVincent Mar 31, 2026 +7
More extensive additions to increase scope are coming from lords. Like operating systems having the means to detect and prevent csa material from being recorded/sent. But the original draft of the osa was written by people at fund - carnegie uk
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Broken_Reality Mar 30, 2026 +25
Our government are technologically illiterate buffoons.
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Supercalme Mar 31, 2026 +13
It's worse unfortunately, they're greedy cunts who are taking bucket loads of money and advice from companies like Palantir to harvest our data and control what we do and see.
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Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +3
Oh c*** yeah I forgot that bit. "Our government are technologically illiterate buffoons on the take from a bunch of sketchy corporations who don't have our best interests at heart." How's that?
3
Supercalme Mar 31, 2026 +2
Perfect, and soul destroying
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glasgowchapter Mar 31, 2026 +6
Maybe these people shouldn't be parents then. I'm all for parents monitoring what their own children do online, but the government can't monitor children without monitoring everyone, in any country, not just the UK.
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billy_tables Mar 31, 2026 +1
I mean if you want to do it, this is how it has to be done right? 
1
Ericridge Mar 31, 2026 -3
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣  Knew this kind of shit was coming and after UK FA'd now they're in middle of FOing. 
-3
immutate Mar 31, 2026
Interesting folks think this is just an Apple thing, and isn’t coming to Android too.
0
Even-Baseball-5927 Mar 30, 2026 -45
Do I have to be concerned if I ever travel there that my personal phone will be hacked like this? Just want to know in case I ever decide to visit that shithole.
-45
mineyCrafta25 Mar 31, 2026 +35
You think this is a hack?
35
Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +11
There is no hacking involved at all. It's Apple making a stupid implementation of the law that isn't even required by the law. Apple is putting in device level age verification when the law is for websites to verify your age. It's Apple being stupid in how it decided to handle a stupid law. Oh and only certain parts of the UK are shitholes some of it is very nice. Just like much of the USA is a shithole but I am sure there are some lovely parts of it somewhere. Maybe in the woods with all the bears.
11
PrairiePopsicle Mar 31, 2026 +14
In fairness to apple, the writing is kind of on the wall and serious discussions I have seen all kind of go "well, if this is going to be forced, we would all probably prefer if apple/google/microsoft (the operating system) just passed "verification tokens" to whatever services, rather than have every website try to do some kind of verification.
14
queen-adreena Mar 31, 2026 +15
It’s definitely a better implementation. Imagine if every website was required to have their own system with their own copies of passports, driving licences etc. Your phone already knows most of your darkest secrets, so may as well have it pass a token that says “yeah, I’ll vouch, this person is 18!”
15
Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +2
Ignoring passports and using credit cards is moronic. Never has a child ever stolen their parents credit card for anything ever....totally secure Apple I can't see any problems with that at all.
2
Zanki Mar 31, 2026 -1
In the UK, most people don't have credit cards, only debit. They're harder to get here.
-1
Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +1
Plenty of people have them but they are still a shitty form of age verification.
1
Zanki Mar 31, 2026
Hell, if it auto unblocks all the sites that are currently blocked for me due to the age verification and apple are the only ones who "see" the IDs, this is actually a better option. So long as it doesn't share any information beyond user is 18+.
0
Darkone539 Mar 31, 2026 +4
>There is no hacking involved at all. It's Apple making a stupid implementation of the law that isn't even required by the law. Apple is putting in device level age verification when the law is for websites to verify your age. Device level verification is better then each app having access to your id.
4
Syssareth Mar 31, 2026 +3
That's like saying horseshit is better than bullshit. Sure, it doesn't smell *as* bad, but it's still shit.
3
SouthSouthBay Mar 31, 2026 +1
The bears don't shit in holes, they just do it right on the ground. I do agree, those are the best places in America
1
Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +2
Useful information. Safe to step in holes but beware ground for bear shit while in woods. See this is the sort of thing travel guides don't tell you. Only Listnook could give me such an insight! Thankyou.
2
_lerp Mar 31, 2026 -3
Apple are implementing it like this because certain states in America have made it a legal requirement. It is easier to ship one solution than multiple
-3
Broken_Reality Mar 31, 2026 +2
Which part? Not using passports or using credit cards?
2
_lerp Mar 31, 2026 +1
Device level age verification
1
JamMichaelVincent Mar 31, 2026 +2
Naa it’s only going to the states you have to be worried about your phone and social media being scrutinised for negativity about the orange clown.
2
davemee Mar 31, 2026 -40
Previously, every child was "adult by default". It's worth thinking about the implications of that, even if you resent this legislation or are affected by it. We've basically had a couple of generations of kids who have had unfettered, *unsupervised* access to *everything imaginable*. Even on here it's been possible to get extreme misogyny, mass killing videos, isis decapitations, fascist and neonazi propaganda. (*anticipates downvotes*) Edit: Also bear in mind the laws and behaviour of your local government are quite possibly very different from those in the UK. The UK is one of the few countries that doesn't issue ID cards, before people start (*continue*) making arguments about permanent records, data overreach, *Literal 1984*, etc.
-40
ThreadCountHigh Mar 31, 2026 +26
Kids are very rarely getting unfettered online access without their parents enabling it. These laws are the government doing the job that parents should be doing, i.e. supervising their damn kids.
26
darkmayhem Mar 31, 2026 +17
Yes but the cure is in this case worse than the disease. None of these companies can hold our data without leaking it or selling it 
17
davemee Mar 31, 2026 -19
How is it worse than the disease? I think using US companies to validate ages is problematic. There are decent implementations out there that do not request extra data to validate age (Listnook isn't one, and treats my 17 year old account as though I created it immediately on being born)
-19
Syssareth Mar 31, 2026 +18
> How is it worse than the disease? Because having privacy and personal agency stripped away hurts everybody, as in literally *every single person,* while leaving the job of parenting to the parents only hurts a subsection of the populace: children with negligent parents. Whose parents are going to be negligent regardless of shit like this.
18
davemee Mar 31, 2026 -17
How is privacy and personal agency 'stripped away' and how is it 'hurting literally everyone'? Those kids with 'negligent parents' will be *everyone else*'s problem. At least this goes some way to dealing with making certain types of access more difficult for them.
-17
Syssareth Mar 31, 2026 +7
Every piece of data you give somebody, whether it's a random website or your phone's manufacturer, strips away more of your privacy. Giving them your *identity* is massively more than just a 'piece.' I can't speak for Apple, but I can, and did, create an account on Google under a fake name, and since I don't buy anything through my phone, as far as it's concerned, that's who I am. And are you seriously asking why not having privacy hurts people? Take a look at dystopian fiction. One of the defining tropes *is* the lack of privacy. Another is people being prosecuted for thoughtcrimes. We are dangerously close to that becoming a normalized reality as well, because it's already happening in places. And if they know for sure who everybody is, that makes "cleaning up" much, much easier. Long story short, Big Brother has no f****** right to stick its nose in anybody's business unless they're actually secretly doing something illegal, and guess what, they can't know that unless they violate *everybody's* rights. So they have no right there either. They can figure it out the old-fashioned way. And sure, sure, "they already know who you are," but that doesn't mean we should hand the puzzle over to them already completed, with a pretty bow on top. At the *very* least, have some self-respect and make them work for it. Again, I have absolutely zero interest in living in a full-on dystopia. > Those kids with 'negligent parents' will be everyone else's problem. At least this goes some way to dealing with making certain types of access more difficult for them. No, it doesn't. Half of those kids will find workarounds, and the other half will still end up "everyone else's problem" because, let me remind you, *their parents are negligent.* That is not limited to what they let their kids do on the internet. And while we *should* work on *that,* I would rather have to deal with a few maladjusted kids, who--again--were *always going to be maladjusted,* than have authoritarian governments breathing down everybody's necks.
7
davemee Mar 31, 2026 +2
I passed Apple's validation without disclosing any personal data. A lot of this discourse is based on theoreticals, some dismal implementations through Palantir, and conflating *dystopian fiction* with *actual reality*. Age verification isn't a tyrannical slide into authoritarianism, unless you're also saying buying cigarettes, p**** and alcohol for the past 50 years has been under a police state. They don't already know who I am, either. There's no form of national ID required in the UK, so validation isn't tied to a permanent identifier. Apple has done a reasonably good job so far of handling this.
2
Syssareth Mar 31, 2026 +8
> buying cigarettes, p**** and alcohol for the past 50 years The cashier doesn't store your identity. Unlike all these "verification services" that [claim to delete your data](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/tea-app-hack-photo-leak-20784069.php) and then store it [in plaintext,](https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/1-billion-personal-records-from-26-countries-exposed-in-massive-new-data-leak-how-to-stay-safe) they look at it for precisely as long as they need to and then delete it from their minds via handing it back to you and thinking about something else. Edit: Also: > Apple has done a reasonably good job so far of handling this. -flails at the headline we're literally talking under- Seriously? *Seriously???*
8
davemee Mar 31, 2026 +1
It's a range of complaints here. One person hates the idea that there should be any gatekeeping at all; another complains about implementations. Realistically, there needs to be more accountability online, and age checks are going to happen, in exactly the same way we age check p***, booze, films, driving, and weapons. There's a number of different implementations, a few which have been rushed badly. Apple have actually taken a very responsible, privacy-respecting solution - possibly the best realisation, in fact. Yes, *seriously*. I have a token on my device that identifies I am over 18. I have not had to disclose any new information to a third party to do this. Listnook fucked it up. Listnook insisted I reveal information to a US company to prove my age, even though my account is 17 years old. I refused to do so. Flickr did a good job, recognising the age of my account. So if all these providers and architectures, Apple has done the most privacy-respecting implementation that requires the disclosure of exactly zero personal data. *Seriously*. Edit: I appreciate, *again*, your theoreticals about the *literal millions of people it has harmed*. Can you please identify any of them, or is this another theoretical hyperbole that seems to pervade any discussion of introducing regulation online? Don't forget to downvote!
1
Syssareth Mar 31, 2026
> Realistically, there needs to be more accountability online How about no. I actually might agree with you if not for the reality that *every time* a government talks about "accountability" or "security" or "safety," what it really means is f****** people over and planting more eyeballs everywhere. > Yes, seriously. I have a token on my device that identifies I am over 18. I have not had to disclose any new information to a third party to do this. Oh, well, if it's okay for *you,* then the whole thing is just fine and dandy. F*** the...-checks notes-...*literal millions* of people that this is harming right now, because it's demanding personal information they couldn't give even if they wanted to, because they don't have it in the form it demands. Nope, f*** 'em. *They* don't count. > I appreciate, again, your theoreticals about the literal millions of people it has harmed. Can you please identify any of them, or is this another theoretical hyperbole that seems to pervade any discussion of introducing regulation online? Edit: It's ***in. The. F******. Headline.*** It's not even something you have to click through to the article to find, it's literally ***right there.*** I know Listnookors never read the article, but this takes the cake.
0
Ericridge Mar 31, 2026 +9
And yet I turned out just fine. 
9
Christopherfromtheuk Mar 31, 2026 +2
I get what you're saying and the downvotes are unwarranted. However, it's more nuanced than that because UK issued SIMs have been "child by default" for quite a while, so a phone needs to have adult content unlocked - unless you're on WiFi. Even then most ISPs also have "child by default" filters in place which need to be disabled by bill payer (independent ISPs ignored this as it was an agreement, not the law), but these apply to any users of the router in question so most adults would have disabled these already. So, a UK phone is kind of child by default and someone has to go on and enable "adult" mode anyway with the caveat being the filters are so strict that most would be turned off anyway.
2
Zanki Mar 31, 2026 +1
Oh yeah I forgot about that. I can't access deviantart when I'm not on WiFi. No idea how to fix it. I tried years ago in store.
1
Zanki Mar 31, 2026 +2
Do they think younger gen x and millennials didn't see this stuff online? I saw awful stuff by accident when I was growing up, the internet is far tamer than it used to be, even without all the new blocks on us and it didn't make us suddenly go out and do bad things. You need to actually look for this stuff now, it's not just randomly in front of you. The biggest issue is social media. Not forums really, depending on the forum, but YouTube, insta, ticktock, Facebook etc. Those videos and rabbit holes are the real issue. I don't really have any ideas for a fix beyond parents being more involved in what their kids are seeing. I think the bigger issue are the companies behind all of this. A few months back there was a heck of a lot of anti immigration showing up on my Facebook and insta, they still pop up from time to time and I've been reporting all of them. It's all fake, trying to make people angry and for some, it's working. This is the real issue. They occasionally pop up, but will less frequency. I have noticed on anything remotely political on Facebook, the same account is posting the exact same anti immigration post over and over. If they want to tackle hatrid, unfortunately they need to hit the propaganda source.
2
-JackBack- Mar 31, 2026 -10
Princess Andrewis now very confused.
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[deleted] Mar 31, 2026 -10
[removed]
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