Instagram is piloting three new methods to verify a user's age. This includes using artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate a user's age by simply scanning their face.
The trial will be conducted in the United States, and Instagram users there will see a choice of this verification method when they try to change their age from under 18 to 18 and up.
The new verification method targets two groups: adult users who accidentally registered their age as a teenager and want to change it, and minors who want to fake their age to bypass some of Instagram's restrictions.
As is known, Instagram only accepts users who are 13 years old and over and applies some restrictions for accounts of teenagers under 18 years old. Since 2019, Instagram has required users to enter their date of birth when creating a new account and this verification method will not affect the registration process.
Through this trial, when users change their age from under 18 years to 18 years and over, they will see three choices of verification methods, namely using an identity card, verification from an adult friend, and selfie video.
If you choose the identity card method, users can provide their passport or driver's license for verification. Instagram will store the identifying information for 30 days on its servers before it is deleted.
The second method is by 'social vouching'. With this method, users can choose three people aged 18 years and over from their follower list to confirm how old the user really is.
The three selected people have three days to respond to Instagram's request. All three must also choose the same answer in order for the user's age verification request to be accepted.
Finally, users can use the selfie video method for age verification. Instagram has partnered with digital identity startup Yoti to run this method.
Once the user submits his selfie video, Meta will send it to Yoti who will verify the user's age using a special AI. Once the verification process is complete, the video will be deleted from the servers of both companies.
Yoti claims the AI they use can only estimate the user's age but cannot recognize them. Yoti says they trained their AI model using photos from users around the world who have already allowed their data to be used for research.
Meta says all the information a user provides for the age verification process is private and will not be visible to others. The tech giant is also inviting other app stores to run this check so teen users can feel safe across all apps and services.
"Understanding someone's age online is a complex challenge across industries. We want to work with others in our industry, and with governments, to set clear standards for online age verification," Meta said in an official statement, as quoted by TechCrunch. , Friday (24/6/2022).
"Many people, like teenagers, don't always have access to ID that makes age verification clear and simple. As an industry, we have to find new ways to approach the dilemma of verifying someone's age when they don't have an ID."