A Tech Transparency Project investigation found that teenage test accounts could reach sexualized-image tools despite recommended Apple and Google parental controls. Researchers identified 135 apps under a broad definition that also includes bikini and lingerie edits, a classification Apple disputes. Supervised download requests were approved during testing; a separate purchase test and continued operation of removed apps exposed other gaps in access restrictions.
Teenage test accounts reached sexualized-image apps with Apple and Google parental controls enabled, according to an investigation by Tech Transparency Project, a technology accountability research group. The Guardian also covered the investigation and its finding on access under family controls. Researchers created four US accounts registered to a 13-year-old boy: a default teenage account and a parent-supervised account in each store.[1], [2]
The tests used 14 search terms and attempted to download the first 15 apps in each search, including sponsored results. Generated images of adult women supplied the test material. The 135 identified apps include both nudity-generating tools and editors that add bikinis or lingerie. Apple disputes placing the latter functions in the same category. The default and supervised Apple accounts reached 61 and 24 apps; Google’s counts were 47 and 51. These overlapping groups cannot be added.[1]
Parents approved supervised download requests during the tests. Separately, an Apple gift-card payment inside an already approved app required no further parental request; Apple called this unexpected and said it was investigating. By the investigation’s September 28 checkpoint, Apple had removed 25 apps and Google 6, while previously installed examples remained usable. Both stores use developer-supplied information for age ratings. Google pointed to enforcement actions, and Apple updated rules against nonconsensual intimate imagery and hidden features.[1]
