The European online age verification app is technically ready and is expected to be made available in the coming weeks. On Wednesday 15 April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen announced that this app, which had been in a testing phase for several months, was finalised and ready for use (see EUROPE 13795/6).
This represents a concrete first step towards a European digital age of majority and a ban on access to certain social networks for younger people (see EUROPE 13808/4). This is a path that many Member States have embarked upon, inspired by the example of Australia, the first country in the world to establish such a limit.
Although the app is not yet available to the general public, Agence Europe was able to get a first glimpse of how it works. As fully open source software, the application should serve as a reference framework for any similar apps that Member States, or private companies operating social networks or platforms, might wish to develop on their own initiative.
It operates on the same principle as several digital identity apps already in use in some EU countries: authentication of the user’s age by means of a photograph of an identity document, passport or national card, combined with a facial verification photo.
Once validated, the process incorporates the user’s age, and only that specific piece of data, into the application. No other personal details are kept, archived or shared with online platforms, according to a senior European official. This data is then used as evidence to authorise (or deny) access to a platform subject to an age restriction.
Commissioner Virkkunen also announced the implementation of an EU-wide coordination mechanism to move towards “a single European solution, rather than 27 different ones”.
In other words, the goal is to establish a single standard at EU level to prevent the fragmentation of social media access for European teenagers. When travelling between two or more EU countries, users could be denied access to content that is otherwise available in their country of origin, if the age limit differs.
The panel of experts commissioned by the Commission, which began its work last month (see EUROPE 13820/11), is due to make contributions in this area.
For their part, “platforms and other social networks will no longer be able to make excuses” to evade their obligations under the DSA, namely, to implement an effective form of online age verification, according to a senior European official.
These platforms are free to adopt their own age verification tool, provided they manage to “convince [the Commission] that their system is a flawless alternative”. At this stage, only sites already prohibited by law to minors (pornography, gambling, etc.) are legally required to verify their users’ age.
This situation could change: France has notified the European Commission of its legislative proposal to ban social media access for children under the age of 15. Several countries have followed suit (see EUROPE 13848/14). And the EU is considering introducing a European digital majority for certain platforms. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)