​​Woman claims ex 'weaponised' this Apple Family Sharing flaw against her family: What can you do in such situations

Former partners can exploit a flaw in Apple's Family Sharing feature. A recent report found that the feature’s single-organiser design was misused by a woman’s ex-partner even when a custodial parent had a court order. According to a report by Wired, a mother identified as Kate reported her ex-husband, the designated organiser, was using the feature for coercive control. Her ex-husband allegedly tracked their children’s locations and imposed "draconian limits" on screen time during her custody days while lifting them on his own. The system's flaw is that it gives all control to one parent, leaving the non-organiser parent unable to transfer children to a new family group without the organiser's consent. Kate recounted, “I wrongly assumed being the custodial parent with a court order meant I’d be able to have Apple move my children to a new family group, with me as the organiser." Still, Apple's support staff stated their hands were "tied because the organiser holds the power,” the report noted, citing the woman.In such cases, the usual recommendation is to stop using the existing accounts and create new Apple IDs. However, doing so results in the loss of all purchased apps, and more importantly, photos and videos that may hold years of memories.Apple introduced the Family Sharing feature with iOS 8 in 2014. With this feature, up to six family members can use their own Apple IDs linked to the same payment method to download apps and iTunes content. All family members must have Apple IDs registered in the same country. Parents can also approve their children’s purchases directly from their own devices.In addition to managing App Store and iTunes purchases, Family Sharing lets you see your children’s locations through Find My Friends and helps locate their devices using Find My iPhone.It also allows you to set up a shared family calendar, reminder list, and photo album that everyone in the group can access and edit.