Age verification happens any time you have to verify your birthdate online. Historically, most social media sites used flimsy age-verification methods, if they used any at all. But growing concerns over the dangers of social media for kids and an increased prevalence of age-verification laws means that more and more platforms are adopting stricter measures to keep kids safe.
However, this rapidly changing landscape has brought with it confusion and, for some, concern over privacy. Here’s everything you need to know about age verification on social media.
There are three primary forms of age verification currently employed by social media platforms:
Landing squarely in the “flimsy” category are platforms that require only a promise from the user that they’re the appropriate age to be using a platform.
Think: a user-provided date of birth or a pop-up requiring clicking a button assuring they’re of age. In the absence of any additional verification measures, age gating is basically just the honor system.
The newest player in the age-verification game is AI-powered estimations, and social media platforms have quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Age estimation systems use two main forms of algorithmic analysis to estimate a person’s age:
ID scanning is pretty straightforward. For this, users are required to submit a screenshot of a government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, to verify their age.
Age-verification systems vary widely in their accuracy. For instance, a government-issued ID is a much more reliable measure than a user attesting to their age. Here are the biggest gaps in social media age verification:
From AI-generated deepfakes to holding the camera up to an actor onscreen, kids are endlessly inventive when it comes to bypassing age verification.
AI age estimation is notoriously unreliable for teenagers. While being a few years off for an adult isn’t a big deal, there’s a big difference between an algorithm deciding a user is 15 versus 19.
Infamously, facial recognition systems are biased because they’re trained on limited data sets. People of color, trans and nonbinary individuals, and disabled people are often misclassified.
Social media platforms are taking steps to ensure privacy and data security. For example, they may promise to only use images for age verification and to delete them immediately after processing.
But these companies don’t have the best track record when it comes to protecting children’s privacy, leading to 80% of adults expressing concern about data used to verify their child’s age being permanently stored, sold, or shared.
If you’re uncomfortable with letting your child scan their face (which I totally get — I’m right there with you), your best bet is to not let them use platforms that rely on this technology until privacy is better proven. Your kid might not be happy about it, but if you explain your concerns, they’re likely to at least understand your reasons.
Even though reliability gaps exist in age-verification technology, that doesn't mean you shouldn’t use these common-sense tools. The key is to layer them with other measures to give your child the best possible protection online. Here are three steps you can take to fill in the gaps:
Parental controls on your child’s iPhone and their Google account make it more difficult (though certainly not impossible) for them to download apps they’re too young for.
On iPhone, use Ask to Buy as well as device spot-checks to keep tabs on what apps your child is using. That way, you can verify they have their age set correctly and set up any available parental controls.
BrightCanary scans everything your child types on their device across all apps and sends you real-time alerts if any red flags are detected, such as age-inappropriate content.
Age verification on social media is an important, yet imperfect, means for protecting kids on the internet. It works best when layered with other measures such as using parental controls and monitoring your child’s online activity.
BrightCanary is an excellent complement to age-verification systems because it monitors your child’s activity on the apps they use the most. Download today to get started for free.
