Apple formally signs on with Big Brother (UK) "Face that telescreen OR ELSE"

[usonian]

Apple begins age checks in the UK with latest iOS update

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/apple-begins-age-checks-in-the-uk-with-latest-ios-update/

After upgrading to the latest version of iOS 26.4, iPhone owners in the UK will be presented with several options to prove their age, including checking the credit card stored in their digital wallet or taking a photo of their driving license or passport. Apple can also use the length of time that digital accounts have been active to confirm a customer’s age.

After installing the update, an on-screen notice tells users: “UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions.”

Failure to complete the age check will limit which apps the user can access or download, though Apple’s support pages do not specify all of the affected services.

“Adults will have to confirm that they’re 18 or older to use certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account,” an Apple support page states.

This is not the "Check this box if you are adult age" demanded of operating system providers by several states.


"SURVEILLANCE IS PRIVACY."

By contrast some Linux developers are on board with this and others are resisting.
https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Some-Linux-Distros-Skirt-Age-Verification-Laws
https://www.franksworld.com/2026/03/24/ageless-linux-a-rebellion-against-os-level-age-verification/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-your-init-system-asks-birthday-how-age-rewriting-dan-korovtch-8on1f

Ageless Linux deserves special mention, not because it will become the world's most popular distribution, but because of the intellectual precision of its protest. The project's website is one of the most technically rigorous and darkly funny pieces of regulatory analysis published in 2026. It dissects the California statute with the care of a law review article and the tone of someone who has genuinely had enough.

Its thesis regarding enforcement is particularly sharp: the fine under AB-1043 is calculated per "affected child." But without age data, no person can be identified as a child. Without a child, there is no "user." Without a "user," there is no "affected child." The fine requires the compliance. The statute fines you per child, but you can only count the children by doing the thing you're being fined for not doing.

https://agelesslinux.org/

Software for humans of indeterminate age. We don't know how old you are. We don't want to know. We are legally required to ask. We won't.

Ageless Linux is a registered operating system under the definitions established by the California Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043, Chapter 675, Statutes of 2025). We are in full, knowing, and intentional noncompliance with the age verification requirements of Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.501(a).