Key facts
- Teens can access AI 'nudify' apps that create nonconsensual pornographic imagery.
- Apps are often misrated as suitable for minors, bypassing parental controls.
- Researchers downloaded 135 apps with nudity-generating features using 13-year-old test accounts.
- Apple and Google have taken action against some apps after the report.
- Some apps remain functional after being removed from app stores.
US teens are able to access AI-generated 'nudify' apps that create nonconsensual pornographic imagery, despite parental controls and regulations, according to a report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). Researchers created test accounts for 13-year-olds on both Apple and Google platforms and found they could download numerous apps with features to strip clothes or swap faces onto nude bodies. Many of these apps were inaccurately rated as suitable for minors, allowing access even when parental controls were active. In one instance, an app advertised with an image of oral sex was rated for ages four and up. While Apple and Google prohibit such apps and have taken action against some identified in the report, TTP found that apps already downloaded remained functional. Morgan Dorfman, whose daughter was a victim of such an app, highlighted the ease with which personal images could be used to create explicit content.