Tech Probe Finds Teens Could Download 135 Nudify Apps on Apple, Google
A Tech Transparency Project investigation found that researchers using accounts marked as belonging to 13-year-olds could download 135 apps with nudification…
Teens can access nudify apps despite Apple and Google’s parental controls, according to a Tech Transparency Project investigation that found accounts marked as belonging to 13-year-olds could download 135 apps with features for generating nonconsensual nude imagery. The report, shared exclusively with The Guardian and released Monday, raises questions about how app ratings and parental restrictions work in practice.
The researchers created four test accounts—two with Apple and two with Google—and searched for image-editing and face-swapping apps using terms including “AI video generator” and “adult AI”. They were able to download apps that could digitally remove clothing or place a person’s face on a nude body. In their tests, they used AI-generated images of women, not photographs of real women.
That access can leave families facing harm that is difficult to recognize or respond to. The Guardian reported that students at high schools across the US have encountered cases involving nonconsensual sexual imagery made with these tools.
App ratings left gaps in parental controls
Apple and Google prohibit these types of apps from their platforms and often use age ratings to restrict minors’ access to adult content. But the Tech Transparency Project said the companies largely rely on developers to assess whether an app is suitable for particular age groups.
“Many nudify apps identified in the investigation were inaccurately rated as suitable for minors – meaning the teen users could access them even when parental controls were activated,” the report said.
One face-swapping app was rated appropriate for children aged four and older, researchers found. Its advertisement showed a woman performing oral sex, according to the report. The free version prompted users to place real women’s faces on templates showing women in lingerie; paid access offered pornographic scenarios.
The researchers also bought a subscription through the account marked as belonging to a 13-year-old. The purchase triggered no alert to the linked parental account, the report said. That finding points to a practical weakness for families: an age restriction may not prevent access when an app’s rating is inaccurate, and a linked account may not flag a purchase.
The Guardian’s report also described the experience of Morgan Dorfman, whose daughter was targeted in December 2025. A student at the Pennsylvania high school used an AI image-editing app called Movely to create sexual videos from pictures of her daughter and five other girls.
Dorfman said she had not understood that images of an ordinary person could be manipulated so easily. “All the girls were very scared and confused about what to do next,” she said.
Parents confronted with app features
Dorfman spent weeks learning how Movely worked and collecting material to educate other parents. When she downloaded the app, it prompted her to create suggestive videos using any image. Its free version promoted templates labelled “clothes explosion”, “brassiere unfasten” and “underwear drop”, according to a demonstration she prepared for parents and The Guardian reviewed.
The paid version offered more explicit templates, including scenarios similar to those in which a classmate said Dorfman’s daughter had appeared. The app’s features show how a tool presented as image editing can be used to make sexualized content from someone’s picture.
Google said it regularly takes “proactive steps to detect and remove apps with harmful content”. The company added: “When violations are detected or reported to us, we investigat”
Source: theguardian.com
