On Monday, Meta is launching a new way to verify the age of Instagram users in Romania. From now on, when someone wants to change their date of birth on Instagram, they will be asked to verify their age in one of two ways: upload an ID or upload a video selfie. The minimum age on Instagram is 13 years.
What people at Meta are saying
For years, Meta has asked people to provide their date of birth when creating an Instagram account — and since last year, people who didn’t initially provide that information have been asked to do so in order to continue using Instagram. Access to this information is important to Meta because it’s how they can provide users with the best Instagram experience – one that’s appropriate for their age.
Understanding the age of Internet users is a complex, even industry-wide, challenge, but one that Meta has been focusing on for some time. There’s an industry-wide push to find new ways to verify a user’s age when they don’t have ID (which many people don’t, including teenagers), and today’s announcement is an important part of that effort.
A few key takeaways from today’s announcement:
Starting today, Meta is giving Instagram users a new way to check if they’re a teenager or an adult. This is important because the company wants users to enjoy an age-appropriate experience.
From now on, when someone wants to change their date of birth on Instagram, they will be asked to confirm their age in one of two ways:
1) upload an identity document; or
2) upload a selfie video – this is a new technology that determines age by facial features
To do this, Instagram has partnered with Yoti, which then uses machine learning to estimate a person’s age. Yoti is verified by the Age Check Certification Scheme, the leading provider of age checks for many industries worldwide, and has been publicly endorsed by experts such as the German regulator KJM.
If the user chooses to record a video, it will only be sent to Yoti. Yoti technology then estimates age based on facial features and sends that estimate. Both Meta and Yoti then delete the image. The technology does not recognize the identity of the user, only the age.
Source: Hot News RO
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