Parental controls illusion? Safari history can be selectively erased despite active Screen Time

I am reporting what appears to be a serious integrity flaw in Safari under iPadOS 26.3 (and lower) that materially undermines the reliability of Screen Time parental controls.

This is not merely a UX inconsistency but a functional contradiction within a system explicitly marketed and positioned as secure parental control infrastructure.

Device / Environment

• Device: iPad Air M3 13" (2025)
• OS: iPadOS 26.3
• Safari (system version)
• Screen Time enabled with active restrictions
• Child account (10 years old)

Background

We deliberately chose an Apple device for school use based on the expectation that Apple’s system-level parental control mechanisms — especially Screen Time — are robust, tamper-resistant, and technically consistent.

Screen Time is configured with:

• App limits
• Downtime
• Parental controls enabled with limited web content restrictions (school requirements prevent strict blocking)
• Safari enabled (mandatory for educational use)
• further parental control restrictions

Because aggressive website blocking would interfere with legitimate school activities, monitoring Safari browsing history is a central supervisory mechanism.

When Screen Time is active:

• Clearing the entire browsing history via Safari is correctly blocked.

• Clearing history via system settings is correctly blocked.

• The system explicitly communicates that deletion is not permitted due to Screen Time restrictions.

This behavior establishes a clear user expectation: Browsing history is protected against manipulation.

The Issue

Despite the above safeguards, individual browsing history entries can be deleted easily and silently through the address bar suggestion interface.

This creates a structural contradiction:

Full deletion is blocked. Selective deletion — which is arguably more problematic — remains possible.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable Screen Time with restrictions that prevent deletion of browsing history (for example on a student device with a child account).
2. Open Safari and visit any website.
3. Confirm it appears in Safari history.
4. Tap the Safari address bar.
5. Type part of the URL or page title.
6. Safari suggests the previously visited page below the address bar.
7. Swipe left on that suggestion.
8. A red “Delete from History” button appears.
9. Tap it.

Actual Result

The entry disappears immediately:

• No Screen Time PIN required
• No authentication request
• No warning
• No restriction triggered
• No parental notification
• No audit trace visible

Deletion occurs silently and irreversibly.

Expected Result

When Screen Time is configured to prevent browsing history deletion:

• Individual entries must not be deletable
• Deletion must require Screen Time authentication

Anything else defeats the protective purpose of the restriction.

Real-World Impact

In practical use, this allows minors to selectively sanitize browsing history while preserving a seemingly intact record.

In our case, this method is widely known among classmates and routinely used to conceal visits to gaming or social media platforms during school hours.

The technical barrier to exploitation is negligible.

This results in:

• A false sense of security for parents

• A discrepancy between advertised functionality and actual system behavior

• A material weakening of parental control integrity

When a system explicitly blocks full history deletion but permits silent selective deletion, the protection mechanism becomes functionally inconsistent and unreliable.

Given that Screen Time is publicly positioned as a dependable parental control framework, this issue raises concerns not only about implementation quality but also about user trust and reasonable reliance on advertised safeguards.

Request

Please classify this as a parental control integrity and trust issue.

Specifically:

• Disable individual history deletion while Screen Time restrictions are active

OR

• Require Screen Time passcode authentication for deleting single entries

Screen Time is presented as a secure supervisory environment for minors. In its current implementation under iPadOS 26.3 and before, that expectation is technically not met.

This issue warrants prioritization.