Apple's Parental Controls are a Big Deal

Everyone is talking about Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, but Apple's new parental controls should take center stage. Regardless of what you personally think of Apple, they are the only big tech company to take a hard stance on user privacy: App tracking protection, iCloud Private Relay, and their refusal to unlock an iPhone for the FBI just to name a few examples. This may be the age of AI, but it's also the age of verification. Age verification sounds good on paper, but in reality is a terrible, horrible, no good idea. And Apple clearly agrees. At their 2026 WWDC, Apple announced an overhaul to screen time and parental controls which, to my eye, very intentionally put the onus of responsible parenting where it should always be: on the parents. Instead of requiring all users to verify their age (and identity!) via credit card, government ID, or biometric scan, Apple is providing the tools and resources to parents for them to properly monitor and manage their children's digital…