Apple Ceo Tim Cook
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Apple CEO TIM Cook Personally Called Texas Greg Abbott Urgin Him to Veto legislation requiring age-related check for the Battle of Technologies for Technologies for Technologies for Adjusting Children's Safety.
The bill adopted with the vetericized majority will require the Apple and Google operators to check the age of each user. If the user is a minor, their account should be connected with the parent or guardian, which would then be approved by each application for loading & mdash; The function that Apple already provides.
The goal is to give parents more control over the activity of their children on the Internet and observe the fact that minors cannot legally agree to the conditions of applications, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The bill was sent to the Ebbott table on May 15, 2025, and still expects its signature or veto. In the case of signing, Texas will become the largest state that adopted such a law. A similar measure in Utah has already passed and entered into force on May 7, 2025.
Apple is persistently tough. Along with Cook's personal accommodation, the company launched six lobbyists in Texas and financed local advertising campaigns.
One announcement supported by the apple claimed that the bill was “supported by porn sites”, a provocative message aimed at swinging public opinion in the Ostin area.
The main Apple argument is that the bill will force it to collect and store confidential personal data, such as state identifiers or other identifying information, from all users, and not just children. This can be subjected to Texas with new risks of confidentiality, the company reports, even when they load the main applications, such as the weather forecast or Sports Scores.
This is a familiar template. Wide observation or data collection measures are often justified as necessary to protect children, even if they connect to everyone and reduce the bar for confidentiality throughout the advice
Apple already offers tools such as ASK to Buise, which gives parents control over the fact that their children are loading. If the child tries to get an application or make a purchase, the parent receives a notification and must approve it before anything passes.
Apple already offers tools such as ASK to buy
Safari has built -in content filters. Parents can block websites for adults or resolve specific, and safe searches hide obvious results. These controls at the device level, blocked behind the passage of the screen of the screen, limit the online content for families without checking the general age in the application store.
But this should be configured by the parent. And the password for the screen must be provided.
META, along with X and SNAP, supports such accounts as TEXAS, which change the burden of checking the age in applications stores. They argue that checking the age at the App Store level reduces the number of confidential information that users provide several applications.
centralization of the process, companies say, can increase both security and confidentiality. Apple claims that this approach replaces too much responsibility to the application routes and risks creating a Honeypot confidential data that can be incorrectly used or aimed.
part of a wider state regulatory shock
and under conditions that do not correspond to the promotions, in conditions in accordance with state -owned companies, in accordance with state statistics in the field of non -release. If the Texas law is adopted, it can become a model for similar efforts throughout the country, forcing Apple and Google to review how their platforms process minor users.
COOK personally intervened in political issues, including lobbying tariffs during the Trump administration and counteracting anti-LGBTK in Texas. His call to Ebbott notes another example of how Apple uses his executive leadership to influence the state legislation, which can affect his business model and customer relations.
Ebbotta’s office says that he is still considering the score.
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