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Kids Can Bypass Communication Limit Feature On iOS 13.3

January 11, 2020BlogNo Comments »

Kids Can Bypass

If your children own Apple devices, be aware that iOS 13.3 includes a feature called Communications Limits. This feature allows parents to set up controls preventing kids from speaking to, texting with, or FaceTiming anyone not already in their contacts.

This addition is small but important. Hackers, scammers, bullies, or strangers can easily obtain children’s phone numbers. They can then use these numbers to harass or threaten kids in various ways.

Unfortunately, a bug in the code caused the iOS 13.3 Limit Bypass issue. Kids could add new numbers to their address books and use them to bypass restrictions.

Staffers at CNBC discovered the bug. They demonstrated that the feature worked properly on devices backed by iCloud. However, it failed when using other services, like Google’s Gmail. This iOS 13.3 Limit Bypass highlights the need for improved parental control features in future updates.

Todd Haselton of CNBC had this to say about the discovery:

“A child should not be able to add the contact to the iPhone’s address book without their parent entering their PIN first if the feature is working properly.”

That’s a succinct description of both the problem and its solution. Right now, Apple is scrambling to generate a fix. Although the company hasn’t said as much, there’s a very good chance that by the next patching cycle, the company will have a fix in hand.

If you were counting on the feature, one thing you can do until the fix is ready is to make use of the Downtime feature. That allows users to restrict access to apps according to a predefined schedule. It’s not perfect, but it will get the job done in the short term.

Used with permission from Article Aggregator

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