Apple is facing a legal challenge in Brazil over accusations that minors are accessing gambling apps through the company’s App Store storefront.
Three child-rights organisations, Anced, Educafro Brasil, and Centro Santo Dias de Direitos Humanos, are seeking court intervention and a 10-day compliance period for Apple to enforce adequate age-based restrictions on its mobile apps in Brazil.
If the court intervention goes through, the company will have to enforce the age restrictions or face a daily penalty of R$500,000 (£72,300).
The lawsuit gives one example of a game on the App Store called “Casino Roulette: Roulettist”, which offers poker, baccarat, roulette and online slot machines – all playable with chips purchasable with real money, with prices ranging from to R$19.90 to R$599.90.
While the app itself has ‘for audiences aged 18 or older’ in its title on the App Store, plaintiffs argue that at no point during engagement with the content on the app has the provision of proof of age, identity verification or facial recognition been required.
Márlon Reis, a legal representative of Anced, confirmed the above: “It was recorded that, at no time, was proof of age, documentary verification or facial recognition required to access the content.”
The lawsuit requests Apple to implement appropriate age verification mechanisms for all gambling apps on its store, prevent any new casino apps from appearing there without the necessary protections, and maintain regular compliance oversight.
All demands have been aligned with Brazil’s Estatuto Digital da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA) Digital law. Enforced this year, the bill expanded protection of children and teenagers in the online space.
According to the provisions, all online platforms offering content targeted at adults should have age verification mechanisms in place. This includes gaming and betting apps.
Apple has maintained that it is still adapting to local legislation, that age verification is in the tasting phase, and that the feature is expected to be rolled out for all users in Brazil through a software update in the coming months.
For now, the Big Tech firm recommends that families using iOS devices set up the Family Sharing feature, which enables parental controls over the content that children can access.
