Posts by gmh@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B4cAnglR8P4PyNv3R2 by gmh@mastodon.social
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In Which I Am Apparently A Child...So, I saw today's news about DarkSword, and although I don't have anything with iOS that old (v18.7 or older), I noticed a new version of iOS out (26.4) and decided to update.Bad move. Bad, bad move.iOS 26.4 implements age verification. It's very simple - just scan your credit card or government id and bingo.I don't have a credit card. The government ID is apparently:- a driving license (which I don't have)- a passport (which isn't scanning)1/2
(DIR) Post #B4cAngyuKJqUeADoQq by gmh@mastodon.social
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So, until I can get the passport working as ID, my iPhone is feature-limited.I can live without the ability to download 18+ apps.The ability to make in-app purchases? That's a bit more severe; there are plenty of things you can buy in-app that aren't porn or loot boxes.And until I can somehow get this fixed, I'm a child.To add insult to injury, I tried to look at the Apple community for similar reports and got this... Apparently, tech support is for grownups!Whoop de fucking doo. 2/2
(DIR) Post #B4crJ4KhkhXi7e3rXc by gmh@mastodon.social
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@omgubuntu In exactly the same boat here.I've had an iPhone and an Apple account since 2010.Got my first Apple laptop in 2004.Learned to nerd on an IBM RS/6000 running AIX 3.2.5 (not counting the parental ZX81).However, I'm apparently a child, because I don't like the idea of living on credit and I think the private car isn't that great an idea.
(DIR) Post #B4dLHyjq44Mx6eDJho by gmh@mastodon.social
0 likes, 1 repeats
@pdcawley Yeah, I think my Apple ID dates from when I got an iPhone (March 2010) and I could have been a superintelligent toddler at that point…
(DIR) Post #B4gPzlVtZuYK7ehqnA by gmh@mastodon.social
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How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?Armed with some research (H/T @neil) and after spending some time reading up the subject, I went to the Apple Store and then spent an hour on the phone to Apple account support yesterday.They're very aware that they dropped a bollock here and have thousands of very angry adult customers.The support team manager I spoke to yesterday said that some sort of fix was due within daysThat's the /good/ news.(1/7)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzlmuYeACyQfRJY by gmh@mastodon.social
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The bad - and I have stressed this to Apple support (politely!):There is currently no procedural fallback. No one at Apple seems to have come up with any kind of plan pre-release for people who don't fit with Apple's implementation of Highly Effective Age Assurance (HEAA).There were mixed messages on release day about whether passports would work. After many attempts, I've got my phone to take a scan of my passport and submit that; but it invariably fails to upload (see attached). (2/7)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzm29dyMBjhnc4e by gmh@mastodon.social
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So the verification procedure insists on government ID, but doesn't work with one of the two forms of government ID generally available in the UK. Most UK citizens will currently have no access to a Government-backed 'digital identity service' (and won't until the Gov.UK Wallet comes out).There are third party digital identity services such as the Post Office EasyID scheme that are backed by government documents, but Apple doesn't work with them. (3/7)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzmECv9zwL5RErQ by gmh@mastodon.social
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Apple are trying to pass the buck.The internal corporate line at Apple, as repeated twice by different levels of support, is that they did this because the UK Government told them to.This is arse-covering bullshit and I told them as much (politely).What they will have been given is the seven Ofcom-approved methods of HEAA and told to comply with that.Apple's implementation of three of those seven HEAA methods - and the lack of fallbacks - is solely the result of decisions at Apple. (4/7)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzmTnzATV7SjhAm by gmh@mastodon.social
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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)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzmhd9lX9oLCjiq by gmh@mastodon.social
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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)
(DIR) Post #B4gPzmuOOJk4RvAvc8 by gmh@mastodon.social
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As an IT pro, I use my phone for work.Apple have damaged the utility of my phone for my job without even attempting to warn me beforehand.Until this is fixed my choice is :a) my phone is now a toy and not to be used for Serious Workorb) I risk my personal data by rolling back to 26.3orc) I fork out a grand and several weeks of effort to remove my data from Apple's ecosystem.None of those are exactly great choices, are they?(7/7)
(DIR) Post #B4ifJMzEMiAPTS9aM4 by gmh@mastodon.social
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@Jyoti Yes, but…There is a risk if you don’t upgrade - 26.4 includes a number of security fixes; and while none of the weaknesses have yet been exploited (as far as I’m aware), your data may be at risk if you don’t.Hopefully, if Apple support aren’t lying or misinformed, there should be a fix within days. I will certainly spread the word about it when I get the news.(Whether it’s a good thing or not is a different discussion - see https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/regulating-age-verification/ et al.)