Post #3124678

2026-03-27 10:47 UTC

This is also a safeguarding issue. As I found out yesterday, one of the things locked down in 26.4 is that Content and Privacy Restrictions is locked on. You need to pass age verification to change it. Until I can prove I'm over 18, all of these features like location sharing are enabled and I can't disable them. For me, it's an annoying inconvenience. For someone vulnerable in an abusive domestic situation - this could be considerably more serious. (5/7)

Replies (5)

@gmh@mastodon.social 2026-03-27 10:49

There was no meaningful consent to this situation before upgrade. I've gone through the release notes for 26.4. I've gone through various media articles about new features in 26.4. Nowhere is the implementation of age verification mentioned. The Apple support staff mentioned that it had been discussed in forums covering the beta. That's not something that will have been seen by 99% of iOS users. (6/7)

Open ##3124679
@CGM@mastodon.scot 2026-03-27 14:42

@gmh@mastodon.social Hmm, I've just got iOS 26.4, I have not done age verification, but I can turn off "Share my location". 🤔

Open ##3124689
@atkelar@meow.social 2026-03-27 20:48

@gmh@mastodon.social wait... Shouldn't 'possibly underage' mean LESS shared data?! How is this being enabled by default complying with anything "child protective"? This way round it seems to just flush out privacy concerned adults...

Open ##3124698
@linuxandyarn@hachyderm.io 2026-03-29 23:57

@gmh@mastodon.social Location sharing is stuck ON until you can prove you're over 18? That's a completely ass-backward way to go about things; with friends like Apple, who needs stalkerware?

Open ##3124703
@ohir@social.vivaldi.net 2026-03-30 16:36

@gmh@mastodon.social Can you check/attest that 26.4 lock in the GB region "allowed itself" to not honor user opt-out of the iCloud services so it just sucked all media there? Or it did not. I would like to have at least some other people ack or deny this before I boost. Thank you.

Open ##3124707