The message users see states clearly: "UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions."

Those who do not confirm their age – or are found to be underage – have web content filters turned on automatically.

The government appointed communications watchdog Ofcom welcomed the development, calling it "a real win for children and families" and noting the UK would be "one of the first countries in the world to receive such restrictions on their devices."

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, hit back hard. In the organisation's statement she said Apple had put a "chokehold on Britons' freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents."

She continued: "This means 35 million Brits who have paid hundreds or even thousands of pounds for Apple tech suddenly now have a child's device unless they comply with invasive demands for personal information that go far beyond what UK law requires."

"Apple has crossed the Rubicon with this software update which is more like ransomware, holding customers hostage to ID demands that are invasive, exclusionary and unnecessary," Carlo added.

She further urged, "Children's online safety is vital but requires better parental controls and thoughtful tech responsibility – not sweeping, draconian, shock demands by foreign companies for all of our IDs and credit cards."

This is digital ID enforcement by the back door. The same government apparatus that has already advanced newborn baby digital IDs, mandatory digital ID schemes and biometric tracking is now outsourcing age verification to tech giants at the device level – creating the perfect infrastructure for ongoing surveillance and control.

We have previously outlined that broader Orwellian mandatory digital ID and biometric push by the British government, which has claimed that the mandatory ID, based on the UK One Login system, will help to stop "illegal" immigrants from crossing the channel by denying them access to work.

The Apple rollout coincides with government moves toward banning social media for under-16s, including trials on 300 teens that test disabling apps, overnight blocks or strict one-hour limits.

Critics see this as the gradual normalisation of universal age verification. Once demanding ID to use your own phone becomes routine, expanding that system to every platform and service is a small step.