Thinking of producing an app aimed at users under the age of 13? Don’t think about getting them to authenticate their identity using Face ID, says Apple.
That’s according to the company’s newly updated App Review Guidelines for September 2017, which include new provisions designed to reflect the technologies Apple officially unveiled this week.
The age-related provision includes the fact that apps which use facial recognition for security must make use of Apple’s LocalAuthentication framework rather than other services, and that alternative solutions must be provided for any users younger than teenagers.
The safety of Face ID is an area that Apple has already been challenged on, albeit in a slightly different context. In a letter sent this week, Democrat Senator Al Franken asked Apple to elucidate some of the safeguards it is making with regard to face data. Although the Face ID process takes place locally on devices, instead of being sent to an Apple-owned cloud server, it makes total sense that the company would want to protect itself against possible abuses of biometric data concerning children.
Many services, such as Facebook, do not allow children under the age of 13 to open accounts for similar reasons, since this involves uploading photos and other identifying pieces of information.
And in other rules…
Apple also makes clear that, as excited as it is about augmented reality, it’s not about to let any old AR app in. Instead, ARKit apps will have to “provide rich and integrated augmented reality experiences,” should they want to be accepted into the App Store. What “rich and integrated” means is up for debate, but it’s pretty clear Apple doesn’t want ARKit’s name to be sullied by less-than-impressive AR demos rushed to market.
Finally, Apple appears to settle a previous disagreement which unfolded in China by specifying its stance on donating money to users within apps. Apple was previously criticized for trying to take a cut of donations made in this way. It now notes that this is okay so long as gifts are entirely optional, and 100 percent of them go to the receiver of said gift.
You can check out Apple’s App Store guidelines here.
Via: Hacking with Swift
