Google, Apple clashes with Meta over age examinations on app stores: all you need to know | Mint

Google has rejected, rejected and warned a suggestion of Meta to implement age verification through app stores through app stores that the measure could be ineffective and that the user privacy could harm, especially that of children. The technical giant voiced its objections in a blog post published on Friday, stating that the use of App Store data to determine the age of the user would require the distribution of sensitive information with millions of app developers, including those who do not offer the content of the age restriction. “We are a lot of concern about the risks this ‘solution’ poses for children,” the company noted. The proposal, originally advanced by Meta, Facebook and Instagram, indicates that operating systems such as Android and iOS must bear responsibility to verify users’ age. Meta argued that the integration of age investigations at the App Store level will help make online ecosystems safer for young people. The security chief, Antigone Davis, earlier told EuroneWs that such a system could protect teens more effectively from harmful online content. However, Google argues that the approach will leave significant gaps. Age verification via app stores, it reads, will not take into account many other general access points to online content, such as table browsers and shared family devices. In addition, the company warned that the implementation of the proposal would mean that they would revise years of internet protocols, which might disrupt the decentralized nature of the web. Apple, whose App Store was installed on all iPhones and iPads in advance, also criticized the proposal. In a February statement, the company said that only websites and programs that offer age -sensitive content should be held responsible for verifying users’ ages, not the broader infrastructure they support. The debate unfolds amid growing pressure in Europe to introduce stricter precautions for minors online. France in particular has launched legal action against pornography sites that do not meet the rules of the new age verification rules, and are among various EU member states that strive the block-wide wide legislation to block children under 15 to access social media platforms. Concerns include online addiction, exposure to hate speech and cyberbullying. (With input of AFP)