Europe no longer wants to hear excuses from tech platforms about why they can’t verify users’ ages. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Tuesday (14) a new European age verification app that will give users a digital identity card of sorts to prove their age online — without sharing their sensitive personal information with every website or app they want to access.
The measure comes as they face growing global pressure to better protect young people online. However, some industry leaders have raised practical and privacy concerns about collecting users’ information to verify their ages.
Europe’s new app will provide a centralized solution that removes the burden on technology platforms of having to verify users’ ages on their own.
“Online platforms can easily trust our age verification app. So there are no more excuses,” von der Leyen and EU Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said in a statement. “Europe offers a free, easy-to-use solution that can protect our children from harmful and illegal content.”
Users will verify their age on the new Europe app by uploading a passport or ID, according to the release. Technology platforms will then be able to access the app to check whether a user is over or under a certain age — for example, 16 or 18, depending on local requirements — but the user’s date of birth and other personal information will not be shared.
Von der Leyen said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday that the app will have the “highest privacy standards in the world.”
Concerns surrounding the impact of technology platforms, especially social media, on young people’s well-being have only grown since a jury in California found Meta and YouTube responsible for harming a young girl with addictive features last month. Separately, a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable for allowing child sexual abuse on its platforms.
Regulators around the world have been pushing tech companies to create more safeguards for young users or to restrict teens’ access to social media altogether.
Australia passed a world-first law in December banning children under 16 from accessing social media, and a handful of other countries, including in Europe, want to follow suit. In the United States, several states have passed legislation to force technology platforms to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent when minors create accounts.
However, some technology companies have raised practical and privacy concerns about age verification requirements. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg advocated for app stores to act as age verification centers that can share information with app operators; Google and Apple argued that Zuckerberg’s proposal would force them to collect unnecessary personal data, even from adult users who want to access harmless apps.
Europe’s new app is “technically ready” and will soon be available to EU citizens, according to the statement.
Meta, Snap, TikTok and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new app. Google declined to comment.
EU member states will be able to adapt the app to their domestic laws, including any age-related social media bans, European Commission technology spokesman Thomas Regnier told CNN.
Under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates large technology platforms, websites required to restrict minor users will not be forced to use the new app. However, they must prove that their alternative age verification tools are equally effective or face sanctions, Regnier said.
“This app offers parents, teachers and caregivers a powerful tool to protect children,” said von der Leyen and Virkkunen. “We will have zero tolerance for companies that do not respect the rights of our children.”
