Technology
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Technology
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Apple unveils ‘age assurance’ technology |
Apple will introduce technology to boost children’s privacy and safety on its devices, the company announced this week amid a larger debate surrounding children's digital privacy. |
With the new technology, parents will be able to select the age range of their kids instead of providing their exact birthdates when setting up child accounts, Apple wrote in a white paper.
This would be done before young users download apps from third-party developers, who will soon be able to use a “Declared Age Range API” that gives them access to this range.
“As with everything we do, the feature will be designed around privacy and users will be in control of their data,” Apple wrote. “The age range will be shared with developers if and only if parents decide to allow this information to be shared, and they can also disable sharing if they change their mind.” It comes amid a wider national debate over the role technology companies play in protecting children and teens online.
At least nine states have recently introduced bills that would require app-store operators to check users’ ages and confirm parental consent before minors can download the applications. Apple has long argued the responsibility is on third-party app developers to verify users’ age.
The technology company argues a requirement to verify age on the actual app marketplace would make all users hand over sensitive information, when only a limited number of apps need such specific information about users.
Meanwhile, other technology companies like Meta, X and Snap have argued the onus is on the app stores themselves.
In a letter earlier this month, Meta, Snap and X came out in support of a South Dakota Senate bill that would require app stores to verify users’ ages prior to downloads. Read more in a full report at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: |
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Nearly 1,000 scientists from multiple U.S. National Laboratories gathered Friday to test artificial intelligence (AI) models from leading firms like OpenAI and Anthropic in an effort to harness the advancing technology for science and national security purposes. The event, dubbed “1,000 Scientist AI Jam Session,” involved nine national labs from across the country in what OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, called … |
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The Washington Post has reportedly lost tens of thousands of subscribers in an apparent reaction to a decision by the outlet’s billionaire owner to change the editorial focus of its opinion pages. The Post has lost 75,000 digital subscribers since its owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced changes were coming to the Post’s opinion section, NPR reported Friday citing internal subscriber figures. Bezos wrote … |
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Comedian Roy Wood Jr. mocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over its sometimes stumbling efforts to downsize the federal government, during his CNN show Thursday night. “We’re literally watching DOGE, like watching DOGE in the way that they’re making these cuts, it’s like watching somebody put together LEGOs without the instructions,” Wood said during a panel discussion on CNN’s … |
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SEC's lone Democrat criticizes crypto shift |
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill's Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington. |
The sole Democrat on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is voicing her opposition to a series of recent cryptocurrency related decisions made by the agency.
After the SEC dismissed its enforcement action against Coinbase on Thursday, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw slammed what she described as "regulatory whiplash."
"This reverse-course midstream – coupled with recent high-profile stays of other litigations – is not only unprecedented, it ignores 80 years of well-established law," Crenshaw said in a statement. "I have heard many say that the industry craves legal clarity," she added. "Today’s action results in less clarity."
She also took aim at a statement from the SEC on Thursday that determined meme coins, like the token President Trump launched last month, are not securities. The decision represents "an incomplete, unsupported view of the law" and places an entire product category outside of the SEC's purview, Crenshaw argued.
She is currently the only Democrat at the SEC, after former Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga both stepped down last month.
Plus: Vice President Vance will deliver a keynote address at venture capital firm a16z's American Dynamism Summit next month, a spokesperon for the vice president told The Hill Friday.
Katherine Boyle, a16z general partner, shared the news on X, writing she is "thrilled" to have the vice president join the summit. "It's time to build for America," she wrote. a16z, founded by venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, invests various emerging technology, including cryptocurrency ventures. |
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: |
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Bluesky-based Instagram alternative Flashes launches publicly (TechCrunch)
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Want to buy an EV or heat pump? New coin will help you defray the costs (TechCrunch)
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill: |
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Microsoft shutting down Skype in May |
Microsoft is officially retiring Skype, the platform once popular for making calls and messaging, and redirecting users to Teams, the tech giant announced Friday. The application will close down in May, as Microsoft seeks “to streamline our free consumer communications offerings so we can more easily adapt to customer needs,” said Jeff Teper, president of collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft. “The way we communicate … |
Some agencies plan to send a second Saturday email to federal workers asking them for bullet points on what they did this week, a sign at least some departments plan to continue with the controversial practice ignited by Elon Musk. The decision comes after Musk faced pushback last week from some agency heads, who instructed their employees not to respond to a Saturday email from hr@opm.gov, undercutting Musk’s threats … |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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An astonishing scene played out in the Oval Office on Friday as President Trump and Vice President Vance got into a shouting match with Ukrainian President … Read more
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has been one of the most outspoken advocates for supporting the Ukraine war effort, said he was “devastated” by the … Read more |
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Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you next week! |
Save story
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The iPhone 16e is the first update to the company’s most affordable model since 2022, but carries a higher price tag of $599.
The New York Times - Feb. 19
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Apple will introduce "age assurance" technology to boost children's privacy and safety on the company's devices, the company announced Thursday as part of its broader push to protect kids online. ...
The Hill - 10h
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Sir Keir Starmer's next move before meeting Donald Trump and a data security dispute make Saturday's front pages.
BBC News - 6d
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Law enforcement in the country was pressuring the company to create a tool that would act like a back door into customers’ data.
The New York Times - Feb. 21
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Show removed from iPlayer as ‘further due diligence’ carried out and critics ask if any Hamas members were paid for filming. A BBC documentary about Gaza has been pulled from its iPlayer service ...
The Guardian - Feb. 21
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Amazon has been working for years to overhaul Alexa with generative AI features as it faced rising competition from OpenAI's ChatGPT and other chatbots.
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ABC News - Feb. 19
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{beacon} Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story Trump, Zelensky meeting goes off the rails over Russia ...
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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) told Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “grow a pair” after the former senator defended President Trump after his heated meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr ...
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