Apple Highlights Features and Tools to Protect Children Online

In recognition of Safer Internet Day, Apple is highlighting its features and tools to keep children safe online.

As a longtime privacy and security leader, Apple continues to innovate, create, and uplift family-friendly tools that promote children's safety and privacy — along with parental controls that help families understand, monitor, and set limitations on their children's screen time.

"At Apple, our goal is to provide people with technology that not only improves and enriches their lives, but also helps them stay safe online," said Erik Neuenschwander, Apple's director of User Privacy. "We're proud to be an official supporter of Safer Internet Day in Europe — and we'll keep innovating every day to empower people to protect their families online."




The resources Apple is sharing for Safer Internet Day include free educational sessions — online and in Apple Store locations — to help parents, guardians, teachers, and child safety advocates get the most out of the family-friendly safety tools across Apple devices. And on the App Store, Apple will highlight apps that create even more ways to promote child safety, privacy, and parental controls.

On Apple's website, a dedicated page for families showcases a range of tools designed to help parents better manage how children use Apple devices:

● iOS 16 offers improved child account setup as part of Family Sharing — which helps parents and guardians put parental controls in place right from the start. The new Family Checklist shares helpful tips, including reminders to update a child's settings as they get older.


● With Screen Time, families can get weekly reports on their children's activity, and set limits on the amount of time spent on-device or on certain apps. Downtime lets families block apps and notifications at certain hours of the day, and Communication Limits helps them choose who their children can communicate with.



● Through Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time, parental controls can block or limit specific apps and features on a child's device — restricting the settings for explicit content, purchases, downloads, and privacy.

● On the App Store, parents can restrict downloads to age-appropriate apps, and use Ask to Buy to approve or decline purchases and downloads. And in the Made for Kids section, Apple enforces strict standards that require every app to protect children's data and prevent age-inappropriate advertising.



● Parents can also turn on Communication Safety for the Messages app to provide warnings and resources on their child's device if they receive or attempt to send photos containing nudity. Using on-device machine learning, Messages detects and blurs the image and offers age-appropriate guidance. In partnership with local experts, Apple is expanding the feature to more regions around the world.



Apple is also offering a free class called "Your Kids and Their Devices" online and in over 500 stores globally. The 60-minute session covers how to manage content and maintain privacy with the latest features on iPhone and iPad, including Family Sharing, Screen Time, App Limits, and more. To sign up for a session, visit apple.co/safer-internet-uk.

In addition, Apple is offering a tailored session for members of the Apple Education Community to provide useful insights into how teachers can protect and educate children on internet safety.

Finally, Apple is also working with the European Commission to reach people across the network of Safer Internet Centres across Europe. The company collaborates with a number of nonprofit partners — including Internet Sans Crainte in France, klicksafe in Germany, Webwise in Ireland, and Childnet in the UK — to help protect families and children.

"Every day in our work, we see the need to foster a climate of trust around young people's digital lives," said Axelle Desaint, Internet Sans Crainte's director. "Safer Internet Day is an opportunity for us to give young people a voice, and it is up to us to listen to them and show them they can count on the adults around them to ensure their protection on the internet. For us, the support of a major player like Apple is a tremendous step forward in this direction."

"Safer Internet Day provides the best opportunity in the year to promote safe and responsible use of technology," said Will Gardner, the UK Safer Internet Centre's director. "The success of the day lies in the huge collaboration that takes place, with thousands of organisations getting involved to promote key messages and provide information and resources. The support of companies like Apple is important for this, as resources like its online hub for families help to provide information and tools to support the safety of children and young people online."

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