Apple has amended the terms and conditions of iTunes to allow children under the age of 13 to control individual iTunes accounts which have been created at the request of an approved educational institution.
Previously, Apple restricted the iTunes accounts to children of 13 or older, but with more iPads being used in schools, and with this number only due to increase given recent distribution deals, Apple has announced the change in policy with the release of iOS 7.
MacWorld discovered the change:
“But as of Thursday, Apple had updated its terms and conditions to reflect an upcoming program that will allow schools to create accounts for young children once they’ve obtained “verifiable parental consent.”
“This iTunes Service is only available for individuals age 13 years or older, unless you are under 13 years old and your Apple ID was provided to you as a result of a request by an approved educational institution,” the new terms read in part.”
The change comes as part of a move to give greater control to teachers, whilst also retaining the individuality of students. With the policy change comes a new mobile device management option for the teachers, which will provide them with greater control over the restrictions applied to classroom iPads. They will, for example, be able to control access to various documents, account settings, as well as App setup.
Apple iTunes Accounts for Students
Although it is not necessary for a student to have their own Apple ID when using a classroom iPad, now being able to sign in with their own will provide a better learning experience, as well as being able to participate in education licensing deals.
This is a great move for Apple, and undoubtedly a way for Apple to increase their registered iTunes accounts. However, it does provide students with their own personal experience of the Apple eco-system, which can only be a good thing, right?