Digital expert reveals how age verification may work for incoming social media ban
Age verification is the key to shutting the door on under-16s using social media. So how will it work and what happens to the data?
The effectiveness of Australia’s world leading social media ban rests on companies’ ability to keep kids under 16 out.
From December 10, children aged 16 and under will be banned from social media, prompted by News Corp’s Let Them be Kids campaign which exposed the daily harm social media causes to children.
There will be no blanket approach to age verification across social media, as the Australian government has placed the onus squarely on the billionaire companies themselves.
The eSafety Commissioner’s office has said not all Australians will be expected to prove their age, nor will they be forced to provide a government issued ID.
But many users will still have to verify they are over 16, raising concerns about privacy and data retention.
Digital literacy expert from Australian Catholic University (ACU), Professor Kathy Mills, said gaps in the system still exists six weeks out from the deadline.
“Age verification technologies reviewed in the recent government trial found high accuracy for users over 19, while those near the cut-off risked being misclassified,” Ms Mills said.
“The report found 8.5 per cent of users aged 16 were wrongly estimated as underage and would need to provide supplementary age assurance.
“The government review found that age assurance systems were generally secure with developers actively addressing known risks like AI-generated spoofing and forgeries.
“But the rapidly evolving threat environment means these systems aren’t infallible.
“Identification-based and biometric systems pose substantial concerns, ranging from data breaches to ethical dilemmas related to biometric surveillance and jurisdictional overreach.”
Prof Mills said the recent hack of 70,000 Discord users official ID photos revealed the risks of insecure age verification systems.
“We do not want a situation where young people would be required to give up facial data or other biometrics stored and retained by social media companies, which could be used for marketing and potentially be hacked,” she said.
Prof Mills said policy makers needed to fix loopholes surrounding data retention to better protect all users.
“Many current laws fail to specify how long verification data can be retained, whether it can be monetised, or how it should be disposed of,” Prof Mills said.
“Policy makers need to close these loopholes by requiring prompt deletion of data after verification, prohibiting resale or profiling, and mandating secure disposal protocols.
“These measures are critical to prevent future misuse and reduce long-term privacy risk for our teens.”
Prof Mills said the best advice for parents was to use these changes as an opportunity to discuss digital safety with their children.
“The best advice for parents is to talk to your kids about the new laws around social media,” she said.
“Encourage them to protect themselves online by limiting how much data they share. Avoid sites that contain harmful content by choice and avoid sharing personal data on social media sites.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Digital expert reveals how age verification may work for incoming social media ban
