Apple rolls out age-verification tools worldwide to comply with growing web of child safety laws
The company informed developers on Tuesday that it’s expanding its set of “age assurance” tools, including an updated Declared Age Range API now available for beta testing. These tools allow developers to obtain a user’s age range without gaining access to the user’s personal information, like their date of birth. The need for a technical solution like this came about as more governments around the world have created laws to block or restrict certain apps like social media that can only be used by adults 18 and up. In Brazil, for example, developers can use the Declared Age Range API to obtain the user’s age category, if the user or their parent or guardian chooses to share it.
Also, developers whose games contain loot boxes — a gambling-like mechanism that lets players spend money for a random chance at in-game rewards and that lawmakers believe shouldn’t be available to kids — will see their apps’ age ratings updated to reflect an 18+ audience in Brazil, specifically.
The company said it has expanded its other tools around age ratings and permissions to meet its compliance obligations. “New signals are now available through the Declared Age Range API, including whether age-related regulatory requirements apply to the user and if the user is required to share their age range,” reads the Apple blog post.
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