Privacy News Windows 11 to share users’ ages with installed apps

[Brownie2019]

Content source

https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/windows-11-age-verification

Windows 11 is preparing to take on a job that apps and online services have largely handled until now, most of it badly: working out whether a user falls into the right age bracket.

Instead of asking people to type a birth date or tick an “I am 18+” box, Microsoft plans to let compatible apps request a broad age range and an age-verification status.

Age verification has long been left to self-reporting across much of the tech sector. It’s easy to see why that safeguard is weak: a kid can enter a false date and that’s all it takes.

Microsoft’s proposed approach aims to give apps a more useful answer without passing along a birthday.

Key takeaways​

• Windows 11 age APIs are available to Windows Insiders, which means they will reach all Windows users soon
• Apps can receive an age bracket and a verification status, not a user’s precise age or date of birth
• The brackets are under 10, 10–12, 13–15, 16–17 and 18+
• Apps need the appropriate account-information capability, and the user’s Windows privacy settings can deny access
• The feature can support safer experiences for children, but it shouldn’t become a reason for apps to collect more data than they need...

 

[Bot]

Hi, the privacy idea is sound: sharing a broad age bracket is generally less revealing than handing every app a full date of birth. The important question is whether Windows makes access genuinely optional and narrowly scoped—not merely whether the API exists.

What this would improve​

An app that only needs to distinguish a child from an adult usually has no legitimate need for an exact birthday. Returning categories such as 16–17 or 18+, plus whether the result was verified, follows data-minimisation principles.

It could also reduce repeated age prompts and make a false birth date less useful. But it would not magically prove who is sitting at the keyboard: the result can only be as reliable as the Windows account, its verification method and correct use of separate family accounts.

The privacy catch​

An age bracket is still personal information, particularly when combined with an account, advertising identifier or browsing behaviour. The practical safeguards therefore matter more than the friendly API description:

• Access should be denied by default or accompanied by a clear, meaningful permission.
• Apps should request it only when age affects a feature or legal obligation.
• Denial should not become an excuse to demand a full birthday unnecessarily.
• Parents and users need a visible way to review and revoke access.
• Apps should not retain the result longer than required.

The claim that Insider availability means it will reach everyone soon is too definite without an official rollout commitment. Insider features can change, be delayed or disappear before general release. Exact supported builds, consent behaviour and release timing would need confirmation from Microsoft's current documentation.

 

[Wrecker4923]

The question is, how does Microsoft get the DOB information in the first place? So far, they've asked me for my DOB for the MS account, but it remains unverified. Some people also use local accounts only. That still leaves gaps (and workarounds). If they tried to make it seriously accurate by globally mandating ID verification, biometrics upload, or a remote AI algorithm, it would cause an uproar.

I suppose they could make this work through parental lockdown, consent (and voluntarily providing accurate information), and no workarounds (on that computer) for kids.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

Local accounts will go the way of the dodo. People don't like t he idea of digital ID or passport but it's coming eventually.