Instagram has begun testing new age verification tools, including new technology that claims to be able to estimate a user’s age from a video selfie.
That ‘age estimation’ Technology from digital identity company Yoti uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the user’s facial features to predict their age.
Instagram is also a new age verification method that asks three different users to verify their ages.
Photo-sharing app from tech conglomerate Meta began testing the tools in the US today, with the goal of offering more age-appropriate experiences.
A third age verification method for uploading a valid ID such as driver’s license or ID card is already available.
If someone tries to change their date of birth on Instagram from under 18 to 18 or older, the app will prompt them to verify their age using one of these tools.
Instagram is testing two new age verification tools. One of the tools asks users to upload a video selfie, and Yoti’s new technology estimates the user’s age from the video
Another age verification tool asks the user to name three common followers over the age of 18 to confirm how old they are. The nominees cannot vouch for anyone else at this time and will need to “use other safeguards that we have in place,” Instagram said
The social media platform hopes the tools will ensure teens and adults get the right experience for their age group
“Understanding a person’s age online is a complex, industry-wide challenge,” Instagram said.
“We want to work with others in our industry and with governments to set clear standards for online age verification.
“Many people, like teenagers, don’t always have access to the IDs that make age verification clear and easy. As an industry, we need to find new ways to address the dilemma of verifying a person’s age when they don’t have ID. ‘
Users can still upload a valid form of ID, such as a driver’s license or ID card, to verify their age
Tech company Yoti has one “Age estimation” system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to determine if social media users are too young to use apps like Instagram or TikTok.
Instagram requires users to be over the age of 13 to sign up, and in some countries this is higher.
If they’re between 13 and 17, they have a private account by default — which means other users can’t see their content or contact them unless the teen accepts them as a follower.
Instagram also restricts the ways advertisers can reach them with ads.
The Yoti software compares the user’s facial features, as captured by the device’s camera, to millions of other images of people of known ages.
In this way, the system can estimate whether children are reaching the legal threshold of 13 to join apps like Facebook and Twitter.
Yoti and Meta have confirmed that data will be deleted from the video selfie on Instagram after verifying the user’s age.
The technology is also incapable of recognizing a person’s identity.
The vouching feature, meanwhile, asks users to name three common followers to confirm how old the user in question is.
Nominees must be at least 18 years old, not currently vouching for others, and have “other safety precautions that we have in place,” Instagram said.
Instagram hopes the tools will ensure teens and adults get the right experience for their age group. Online safety activists have called for the introduction of age verification tools on social media to better protect younger users from inappropriate content
Online safety activists have called for the adoption of age verification tools on social media and other platforms to better protect younger users from inappropriate content.
Instagram said this test would help test possible solutions to the problem.
“We continue to believe that an effective way to solve this problem is for devices or app stores to serve apps with people’s ages, so that teenagers can be provided with age-appropriate experiences across all the apps they use,” das added company.
“In the absence of industry standards or regulations for effective age verification online, we have invested in a combination of technologies that are fairer, provide more age verification options, and protect the privacy of the people who use our technologies.”
Last month, Yoti announced that its digital age verification app would be accepted in UK cinemas.
The Yoti app consists of a digital identity card that is created by previously uploading an official document such as a passport.
With this card, the children can then prove that they are old enough to watch an age-restricted film – so there is no need to bring important documents with them.
Yoti technology is currently being tested by the Home Office to prevent children from buying alcohol in supermarkets and could become permanent legal proof of age in the future.
It is already accepted in 30,000 stores as a valid ID for the purchase of age-restricted products such as medicines and energy drinks.
