Instagram age verification: Social media giant to use automated analysis of video selfies to allow some UK users to 'prove their age'
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Loading... - Gwen Hebert
- 08 Nov 2022
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Users of Instagram in the UK or EU will from now on see new age verification tools on the platform as part of a major safety update to protect children.
From today, anyone who tries to edit their date of birth by changing it from under the age of 18 to over 18 will have to verify their age through ID or a video selfie, which will be examined by independent age estimation technology.
Instagram said the new update would help ensure an age-appropriate experience for its users.
Cyber safety campaigners have long been advocating for greater child protection, particularly after the Molly Russell inquest, which concluded last month that the 14-year-old girl died from an act of self harm after being exposed to the "negative effects of online content".
Instagram will be partnering with the UK technology firm Yoti to develop their age estimation system.
After a user records their selfie, it is shared with Yoti to analyse their facial features and then an estimate of the user's age will be sent to Instagram, the two companies explained.
Crucially the companies have emphasised that Yoti's technology is not a facial recognition service and therefore it cannot identify the user, only estimate the age of the face it is shown.
To uphold privacy regulations, the firms have ensured that no account details are shared with Yoti and the image is immediately deleted by both companies after an age has been estimated.
The social media platform began testing the system in a number of countries earlier this year. Read More…
