To prevent the opening of the iPhone to alternative app stores, Apple uses the argument of security and content quality a lot. According to the Apple firm, parents should not have to “worry about inappropriate content” for their children since sorting prevents such apps from being offered to them. In fact, the manufacturer would be very far from the mark.
« We reject [les applications] whose content or behavior seems excessive to us, particularly if it poses a threat to children “, explain Apple on the page of its website dedicated toApp Store. « And each app indicates the age of the intended audience so parents can identify what is appropriate for their children “, she specifies.
Apple's fine speeches are at odds
But are the App Store's verification procedures really up to par? We can seriously doubt this after the study carried out by Heat Initiative and ParentsTogether Action, two American organizations dedicated to child protection. It highlights the risks associated with applications distributed by the App Store in connection with age assessments.
Suffice to say that the lessons are not to Apple's advantage. The two organizations worked with a researcher to identify as many risky applications as possible in 24 hours; the choice fell on categories with a history of risks to children's safety, such as chat, beauty, diet or weight loss apps, internet access apps and games.
Of the 800 reviewed, more than 200 were rated as unsuitable for children under 4, 9 or 12 years old. They represent more than 550 million downloads. There are apps for anonymous discussion or with strangers (including one described as a nest for pedophiles…). Others offer explicit content, such as games of a sexual nature, to children aged 4 and under.
Some apps encourage unrealistic beauty standards and unsafe eating practices, others contain violent content or glorify criminal activity, and still others provide ways to circumvent parental control restrictions. The results are not glorious for Apple, which delegates responsibility for age assessments to developers, clearly without any real third-party or independent control.
For Apple as for the developers, there is a financial interest which justifies the malicious categorization of these apps in the store: they bring in money, and the manufacturer receives a share of it via its commission. The report suggests that the App Store is a “ massive distributor of risky and inappropriate apps for children ».
The App Store includes « more than 500 specialists around the world » responsible for sorting « more than 100,000 apps » per week, assures Apple. That represents 40 apps per day per specialist. Probably too many to do a real thorough job of reviewing, especially when the developer is offering an app for kids.
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By: Opera
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