The European Union has begun testing age verification software which is being developed as part of a wider strategy to protect minors online across its 27 member states.
The European Commission announced on Monday that Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain were taking part in a pilot test of an app, with a view to further customizing it in collaboration with member states, online platforms and end-users.
It is also being tested with online platforms, including adult content providers, with the commission inviting operators not yet involved to sign up.
At the end of the trial, which began in late June, countries will have the option of integrating the software into national digital wallets or publishing a customised national age verification app on app stores. Market players will also be invited to take up the software solution and further develop it.
The pilot test is seen as a major step in the implementation of measures aimed at protecting minors online enshrined in the EU’s 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA).
Under the blueprint, users will be able to prove that they are over 18 when accessing restricted adult content, such as online pornography, without revealing any other personal information.
The processes of issuance and presentation will be handled by separate entities, ensuring privacy.
Online services will only receive proof that the user is over 18, without any other personal details. The proof provider will not be informed about the services where the proof is used. Each proof will only be used once, to prevent cross-service tracking.
The blueprint is based on open-source technology and designed to be robust, user-friendly, privacy-preserving and fully interoperable with future European Digital Identity Wallets.
The development of operation is being carried out by the T-Scy consortium, composed of digital identities solutions company Scytales AB (Sweden) and IT services provider T-Systems International GmbH (Germany), under a two-year contract awarded by the Commission in early 2025.
The commission said it would be possible to extend the verification solution to other age limits, or to other use-cases, such as purchasing alcohol. The privacy-preserving features, however, cannot be modified.
Last month, for example, French president Emmanuel Macron said he was considering a blanket social media ban for all under-15s following the stabbing of a teaching assistant by a 14-year-old pupil.
There were suggestions at the time that violent online content had played a part in encouraging the crime, although a number of child psychologists interviewed by French media pushed back on this theory.
The age verification blueprint and software is due to be rolled out across the EU in 2026, tying in with the bloc’s drive to provide every citizen with an EU Digital Identity Wallet, providing a secure form of digital identification for everyone in Europe.
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