US teens can access nudify apps despite parental controls: Report
What's the story
Despite Apple and Google's parental controls, "nudify" apps are still accessible to American teenagers. This was revealed by a report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a digital advocacy group, shared with The Guardian. The researchers created four test accounts that mimicked 13-year-olds and searched for image-editing or face-swapping apps with terms like "AI video generator" or "adult AI." They were able to download 135 such apps that could generate non-consensual nude imagery.
Control loophole
Mistakenly rated appropriate for minors
The TTP report also highlighted that many nudify apps were mistakenly rated as appropriate for minors.
This means that even with parental controls in place, teen users could still access these apps.
The researchers also found one face-swapping app, which was advertised with an image of a woman performing oral sex, was rated appropriate for ages four and up.
Company actions
Apple updates content moderation guidelines, Google vows to act
In response to the TTP report, Apple strengthened its content moderation guidelines.
The company now mandates developers to proactively prevent and remove non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated ones.
Google, on the other hand, said it regularly takes "proactive steps to detect and remove apps with harmful content."
When violations are detected or reported, the company investigates and takes swift action against violating apps.
Accessibility concerns
Number of nudify apps accessed by test accounts
The TTP study found that the Apple account with parental controls was still able to access and download 24 nudify apps.
These were all rated as appropriate for 13-year-olds.
The Google account with parental controls fared worse, managing to download 51 of these apps.
This shows that even with age restrictions in place, these harmful apps are still easily accessible to teens.