A relatively simple change to the iPhone setup process would mean Apple could keep kids safe from social media apps, along with any other apps that shouldn’t be used by children.
The suggestion comes from a somewhat ironic source – Facebook’s former head of security…
Alex Stamos, now director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, says apps themselves struggle to stop kids from using them. It’s no use asking their birthdate during app setup, as kids can obviously just put in a fake date. But he says there is a simple way Apple and Google could help.
Protocol reports that Stamos will make his suggestion to Congress when he testifies on Thursday.
If lawmakers really wanted to keep kids off of those apps in a way that wasn’t so easy to circumvent, they might be better served focusing on a different point in the tech stack.
“Require mobile devices (phones and tablets) sold in the US to include a flow, triggered during initial setup, that asks if the primary user is a child and stores their birthdate locally. The calculated age (rounded to year) should be provided via API to every app,” Stamos suggested. If device makers required ages at setup, Stamos wrote, then app stores could use that likely more reliable information to filter out underage users, rather than relying on their own insufficient age gates.
Stamos also said that developers should be required by law to have child safety measures that are age-dependant.
A 6-year-old, after all, needs different guardrails than a 16-year-old. “We are way too early in the field to have a unified set of product features that work for everybody,” he wrote, “but we can at least encourage thoughtful design.”
Protocol’s Issie Lapowsky agrees that this would be a significant improvement over existing controls.
It’s not that device makers aren’t trying to implement parental controls. Apple and Android both offer parents ways to restrict apps on a device, set time limits for apps and limit access to apps and other content based on their age ratings. But those settings aren’t on by default and don’t trigger age-appropriate experiences inside the apps themselves once launched. Access is either on or off, with no in-between.
I’d add my own support to this – it seems a simple yet effective step.
Stamos previously weighed in on the Apple CSAM controversy, calling for greater nuance rather than knee-jerk support or opposition.
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