Experts say social media age checks risk security and privacy

Hundreds of security and privacy experts have urged governments not to introduce age verification on social media until privacy and security concerns are fully addressed. 

On Monday, 371 academics from 29 countries, including computing pioneer Ronald Rivest and cryptography expert Bart Preneel, signed an open letter highlighting the risks.

The move comes as countries such as the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Finland, and Germany consider restricting children’s access to social media. Age verification systems predict a user’s age using a live selfie or government ID, a method already mandatory in countries like Italy and France.

The academics claim that the current methods of age verification are not safe. Accessing such features can risk users’ safety as they might be exposed to scams on unverified websites, or they might inadvertently give more information to service providers without even realising the authenticity of the site.

In their letter, they claim that using these methods without scientific evidence of their advantages and disadvantages is “dangerous and socially unacceptable".

A good system should incorporate cryptographic techniques to protect the user’s information being transmitted in an age query. Nevertheless, the letter claims that creating and sustaining such a system worldwide might be difficult and expensive and might actually become a barrier for users to operate the system, which might deter social media providers from using it.

The signatories of the letter claim that age assurance should be introduced when there is enough evidence of its safety and effectiveness. Before then, they claim that introducing age verification might undermine security, privacy, and equality for children online.