Instagram will now scan users’ faces to prove they are over 18 years old

Instagram is testing a new feature that will allow a third-party app, Yoti scan the faces of teens to verify they are above 18 years old. The company stated in a blog post.

This new method of proof of age is just one of the features Instagram is announcing to check the ages of users. The other two features are:

Ask their mutual friends (3) to verify their age(vouch for them) or upload a photo of a valid ID.

The social media company has come under immense criticism as parents and critics believe the photo-sharing app exposes minors to harmful content.

However, in a bid to keep minors safe on the platform, Instagram announced several features like restricting adults from DM’ing teens, preventing under 13s from creating an account, and even creating an Instagram for kids platform. 

Although the first two features are currently active, several child rights advocacy groups and public health organizations called for the immediate suspension of the latter, labeling it as “harmful” to the development of adolescents. The “Instagram for Kids” platform has since been suspended by Meta.

The new verification system proposed will help “set clear standards for age verification online,” according to Instagram.

“Understanding someone’s age online is a complex, industry-wide challenge. We want to work with others in our industry, and with governments to set clear standards for age verification online,” the company wrote in the blog post.

How will it work?

When signing up, if a user selects verify by video selfie, Instagram will pass the video to the London-based-identify verification startup Yoti. Yoti will then scan the user’s facial features in the video using AI to confirm their ages, the company said.

Security concerns

According to Instagram, Yoti’s algorithm only verifies users’ age, not their identity. Instagram and Yoti will delete the user’s data once verification has been completed. 

If a user submits a valid ID to confirm their age, the data will be deleted after 30 days.

But will this data by Yoti be accurate?

The Yoti algorithm only scans the “facial features” of the individual on the video. This makes it a lot more complex when a user’s facial features are greater than 18 years old.

However, Yoti will continue to improve its algorithm in the future to predict accurately.

When is this age proof feature by Instagram starting?

Trials for this feature has already begun in the united states.

Who else is using facial recognition to keep minors safe?

French social networking site Yubo announced in May that; it will be partnering with Yoti to capture images of users’ faces to identify minors.

Chinese tech giants Tencent also announced the use of facial recognition on its gaming platform to prevent minors from flaunting its strict 14-hour game time rule.

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