When iOS 16 comes out later this year, it will allow you to bypass CAPTCHAs on certain sites and apps as it will automatically identify you as a real human. Usually you need to slide a puzzle piece, click a tick box or distinguish nine tile images to confirm that you aren’t a bot. Apple’s introducing a feature for its iPhones and Macs called Automatic Verification, which let some sites know that you’re not a bot without you actually having to do anything.
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Two major content delivery networks, Fastly and Cloudflare, have been working with Apple to develop the system. When it launches with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, sites that use either of the services to defend against spam should be able to take advantage of the system and stop showing you so many CAPTCHAs.
Many have tried to circumvent CAPTCHAs to make the experience on their sites or apps as frictionless as possible, but it still remains an important tool to protect websites from bot attacks. Apple is calling their system Private Access Tokens.
So how does the system work? Well, your device looks at a variety of factors to determine whether you’re a human. When you go to a website that would normally ask you to fill out a CAPTCHA, that site can ask your phone or computer if a human is using it. If your device says yes, you’ll be let right on through.
According to Apple, even though your Apple ID is being used as proof that you’re an actual person, your phone or computer isn’t sending out the data (like your email address or phone number) that’s associated with it. The only thing the site gets is the go-ahead from the Apple system. Similarly, Apple only knows that your device is asking it to confirm whether you’re a human; it doesn’t get info about who wants to know.
