iOS 26.4 age verification without credit card or plastic ID

Dillonuk wrote:

I’m uk citizen with a valid uk passport please don’t cause trouble on here I’m stuck with this problem.

genuinely asking for solutions.

To verify that you are an adult, you need either a driving license or a credit card. Provisional driving licenses have been reported as working. The older paper ones do not. Passports are not an acceptable form of ID for this purpose in the UK.

For iphones - You don't have a credit card - tap the "enter manually" at the bottom there should be a "try another way" and it should let you scan your Driving licence (photo ID one) - or one of those listed in this link Age requirements for managing an Apple Account in the UK – Apple Support (UK)

I hope this has been helpful

Regards

Deanl34 wrote:

What happened to face recognition, I’m sure that can define how old you are

all this technology and they can’t get this right, so genuine adults won’t be able to access there account cause the government have messed up once again

Think about it. If you were a minor, you could hand your phone over to someone older to use their face. And there are loads of teens who look older than their years. Also, on iPhone a face used for Face ID is fully encrypted on the phone and Apple has no access to it. Further complicating this is alternate faces can be setup on an iPhone, which is only used to unlock a phone, not validate anyone's age. Using a face is simply not a reliable method to validate age.

AJP_850 wrote:

Facial age estimation is allowed by the government. Apple chose not to use it, and instead to allow restrict customer to methods that not everyone has. !00% their decision.

For that, Apple would need to send your data through a third party. People are already up in arms about the "privacy implications" of giving their driver's license information to the government.

Trilliano wrote:

A passport would be common sense, where there seems to be lacking with this! Another example I set my Apple ID up in 2007 now I’m no Einstein or a mathematician but that tells me anyone who has an Apple ID set up 2007 or before is a adult

You do realize you're only speaking with other users like yourself on this user to user only forum? Telling other users what is common sense, won't get you anywhere with Apple. We aren't Apple and we don't know anything more than what is contained in this link from them --> Age requirements for managing an Apple Account in the UK - Apple Support

If you want to explain common sense to Apple, you can use this link to tell them --> Product Feedback - Apple

Jmas92 wrote:

find apple chat bot and it will help or they’ll ring you and it should work if you do what the guy asks you, took a week to sort mine but works fine now

Great to hear you were able to get it working. It is too bad it took a week to figure out, but appreciate the update. Also thanks for contributing here and if you have any tips that were provided from Apple that helped in your case, that would be appreciated as well and may help others.

You should contact Apple Support. Another option, is there an Apple Store close to you that you can visit?

My age was verified automatically by the length of time I've had my Apple ID.

WinstonWoof wrote:

The UK Govt has not yet mandated AV at an OS Level.

Apple have chosen to do this themselves premptively

Incorrect, theywere asked by OfCom to do it.

Passport (uk) doesn’t work, a driving licence or a valid uk ID card works, it took a while (1 week) to sort out via a customer service male who got it going.

Apple has no idea what your Face looks like when using Face ID. Those details are stored on your phone only and your phone gives the match, not by Apple comparing anything that is stored on their servers.

Here is an idea, how about putting the responsibility on the Government to verify your information since they enacted the law and have them send Apple the confirmation that you are an adult. That way Apple does not have to keep users personal information on their servers and can limit the information provided to the Government. You are correct, the Government knows much more about you than Apple and that makes them in a better position to provide that verification.

ScrapyardGuitar wrote:

Perhaps apple are able to provide a point of contact within the appropriate government department as they have had contact regarding setting this up.

Why do you think it's Apple's job to tell you who to contact in your government? All Apple has done is implement what your government mandated. I get this is frustrating, but you're laying blame on the wrong entity.

Maybe visit your Motor Vehicle Department and find out what you'd need to do to get a drivers license, which satisfies the requirement?

You are blaming the wrong organization.

It is the U.K. government that has implemented new precautions. If you don't like them......contact your government and ask them to retract the new laws.

Start here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/

Meanwhile, Apple will abide by the laws in your country.

TCHDMF wrote:

The UK government via OFCOM has not stated a specific list of methods that must be used for age verification.

You are correct, that is the Governments way of not taking any responsibility themselves to offer a framework for verifying if a user is an adult. It is much easier to fine another company then provide a clear verification path. Who is going to be responsible for verification of the Live Photo and whether it is actually the correct person, and for a third party what other personal information do you have to disclose to them? Also, the Debit cards is on the OFCOM list as not being acceptable, which should answer the question for many why Apple is not allowing it.

That is much different than in the US, where it is actually the Government that provides the verification and they are able to do it without Apple having to share your personal data to them. That is a great benefit to you where your personal and private information is also protected. Here is all that is required for a Digital ID and also used for Passport verification by the Government. It is not Apple that needs to be responsible for the verification.

• Images of the front and back of your ID 
• Your Live Photo or selfie
• Results of the analysis of the Live Photo or video of your head and facial movements, but not the video itself
• Data read from the PDF417 barcode on your ID
• A single-digit value, used to help prevent fraud, that’s based on your device use patterns, settings data, and information about your Apple Account

Aside from the data listed above, no other data from your device and no personal information about your Apple Account is shared with the issuing authority.

IDs in Apple Wallet: privacy and security overview - Apple Support

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Phil0124 wrote:

Also, officials passing this law undoubtedly did not stop to consider how this verification was going to happen when they were drafting it which is why there is no hard list, and just some available options without any concern for personal data usage and privacy.

It makes it that much easier for the UK government to say that it's not their fault while at the same time holding the threat of huge fines over companies if they don't get it right.

No doubt.

TCHDMF wrote:

I agree that Apple is concerned about being compliant with laws and regulations, or rather I would hope they are concerned with that. However, maybe I am missing something, but given that the age verification is being done on an iPhone which very likely has a mobile number associated with it, I would think the query of the mobile provider regarding the mobile number would be among the easiest options.

The age check is also introduced in iPadOS 26.4.