Apple (device-level age check and Declared Age Range API)
Apple Inc., headquartered in US. Website: apple.com. Methods offered: credit card, photo id, other method.
verified 6 September 2026
Retention, as published by Apple
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default.
“kept for a short period of time”
Quoted from support.apple.com, dated 18 September 2026; checked 18 October 2026. Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion.
Retention statements by service
Statements may cover different services, data types, dates or exceptions. Different periods are not necessarily contradictory. A statement for one service is not a default for another.
| Deployment | Method | What the deployment states | Provider statement and scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple devices | Credit card Primary source |
“your credit card isn’t stored” Quoted from support.apple.com, dated 18 September 2026; checked 18 October 2026. Held by the service. Period as stated: When not added as a payment method. Notes: Debit and gift cards are excluded. Card storage is optional when adding it as a payment method. |
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default. “kept for a short period of time”Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion checked 18 October 2026 |
| Apple devices | Photo ID Primary source |
“kept for a short period of time” Quoted from support.apple.com, dated 18 September 2026; checked 18 October 2026. Held by the service and the vendor. Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion. Notes: Supported UK IDs: Apple’s UK page lists passports, driving licences and PASS-accredited proof-of-age cards (CitizenCard, My ID Card, TOTUM ID card, Young Scot National Entitlement Card). The 18 September 2026 version of Apple’s adult-confirmation page adds that passport scanning is available in Australia, Singapore, the UK and Texas, and that a Digital ID in Apple Wallet created from a US passport can also be used. The ID image is used for age confirmation and fraud prevention, then deleted; no exact duration is given. |
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default. “kept for a short period of time”Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion checked 18 October 2026 |
| Apple devices | In-house age inference Primary source |
No published retention period found (checked 18 October 2026). Notes: Existing account information, including account age or an existing credit card, may establish adulthood. Apple does not promise this route for every account. |
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default. “kept for a short period of time”Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion checked 18 October 2026 |
| Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube adult | Other method Primary source |
No published retention period found (checked 18 October 2026). Notes: Aylo’s newsroom page, release dated 5 May 2026: “today Aylo welcomes eligible age-confirmed UK iOS users back to Pornhub.” Aylo describes the route as relying on “Apple’s UK age-verification process” on iOS 26.4 and later. Ofcom opened an investigation into this route on 22 September 2026 (see the regulator actions on this page); Aylo’s 23 September 2026 statement on the same page says it will work with Ofcom and Apple. Press (Biometric Update, 8 May 2026) reported the iOS-only return. |
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default. The provider quotation above applies only to apple-device. No applicable provider-wide default has been verified for this row. |
Reported customers
- Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube 5 May 2026 biometricupdate.com
https://www.biometricupdate.com/202605/pornhub-returns-to-uk-but-only-for-ios-users
Certifications
No certification recorded as of 6 September 2026. This does not establish that the provider is uncertified.
The UK Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) registry lists certificates with their expiry dates; a certificate that has lapsed is recorded as such once the registry shows it.
Regulator actions and published incidents
Regulators
- — Ofcom: Ofcom welcomed the iOS 26.4 UK device-level check; AVPA disputes it meets highly-effective age assurance biometricupdate.com
Incidents
- — Reddit age-check loop on iOS reported piunikaweb.com
Questions people ask about Apple
What does Apple say it keeps?
Applies only to Apple devices (UK account age confirmation). Not a vendor-wide default. "kept for a short period of time" (support.apple.com, dated 18 September 2026; checked 18 October 2026). Period as stated: ID image only; duration unspecified, followed by deletion. See each service’s own statement; scope, data type and exceptions may differ.
Is Apple certified?
No certification is recorded for this vendor as of 6 September 2026.
Has Apple been fined or had a data incident?
Ofcom, March 2026: Ofcom welcomed the iOS 26.4 UK device-level check; AVPA disputes it meets highly-effective age assurance Incident, April 2026: Reddit age-check loop on iOS reported
Which UK services use Apple?
Recorded deployments: Apple devices (UK account age confirmation) and Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube (Aylo).
Sources for this profile
- Gizmodo on iOS 26.4 UK check 26 March 2026
- Apple: adult-confirmation ID-image retention 18 September 2026
Changes to this profile
- — retention.source_date, retention.last_verified: Apple’s adult-confirmation page re-read 18 October 2026: Published Date now 18 September 2026; “kept for a short period of time” unchanged. Only the retention source was re-read, so the vendor record’s own last_verified stays at 6 September 2026. manual
Correct this entry
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