Instagram Trials Face Scans for Age Verification
Enlisting third-party digital ID company, Yoti.
While Instagram‘s official age for sign-up has long been 13 years old, the Meta-owned platform has done little to verify the age of its account holders over the years. A decade following the app’s creation, the app is now testing a verification AI tool built by third-party software company, Yoti.
The tool will first be used to verify new account holders who claim to be 18 or older. In addition to the old method of uploading an ID card, users can now also either confirm their account via social vouching or a face scan. For social vouching, three of your followers over 18 must confirm your age, meanwhile, for the face scan, users must send a video selfie which will be verified via AI estimation courtesy of Yoti — a digital ID app currently used in post offices, Payzone stores, and convenience stores in the UK.
Demos for Yoti’s Age Estimation can be found on the company’s website. According to The Verge, an analysis from a third-party nonprofit found that it was 98.89 percent accurate in guessing whether people were above 18 or under 25. That being said, Instagram has revealed that its current tests don’t yet include anti-spoofing features.
Elsewhere in tech, Alexa will soon be able to speak as your relatives from the dead.
