Instagram is testing new options in the United States to verify the age of its users. This new identification device will allow Instagram to offer experiences adapted to the age of its users.
Provide age-appropriate experiences
The social network has partnered with Yoti, a company specializing in online age verification, to determine the age of its users. Instagram conducts this test to ensure that teens and adults an appropriate experience for their age group on the platform. If the application already offers users to upload an identity document such as a driver’s license, passport or identity card to prove their age, it now gives American users the possibility of verifying their age in another way. The start-up Yoti has developed a facial feature recognition algorithm.
2 new options
Now, Instagram experimented two new tools to find out the age of Internet users. The first is video selfie. Concretely, the user sends a selfie video to Instagram which is then transmitted to the Yoti company. The start-up will then identify it to precisely determine a person’s age. Instagram specifies that “the technology cannot recognize your identity, only your age” and that Meta and Yoti will delete your video “once the age is confirmed”.
The second possibility is to appeal to adults, which attest to the age of the user directly from Instagram. The social network specifies that the vouching subscriber must have at least 18 years old, must not vouch for anyone else at this time and must comply with other guarantees stipulated by the social network. The user can select three individuals as guarantors. They will receive a request to confirm their age and will have three days to respond.
