UK Pushes Apple, and Google for Mandatory Nudity-Detection, and Age Verification

The UK government is reportedly preparing to ask tech giants Apple and Google to implement highly restrictive measures on their operating systems, requiring users to verify their age before they can take, share, or even view nude photographs on iOS and Android devices.

This proposal, part of the government’s broader strategy to combat violence against women and girls, encourages the companies to incorporate nudity-detection algorithms directly into the operating system, a feature that would apply universally, not just within specific apps.

Home Office officials envision a system where a user would need to verify they are an adult through biometric checks or official ID to bypass the block.

While the government initially explored making these controls mandatory for devices sold in the UK, reports indicate they will initially opt to “encourage” the tech firms to build the functionality into their software by default. This move follows the introduction of the Online Safety Act, which already mandates rigorous age checks for online pornography sites.

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However, privacy advocates and critics have already voiced strong concerns that these device-level detection and mandatory verification measures could lead to false positives, infringe on civil liberties, and essentially transform smartphones into instruments of mass surveillance.