A new EU age verification app is “technically ready” and will be used to help stop children accessing online services meant for adults.
The app is designed for “age-restricted” services, such as pornography sites, and is intended to provide a way to prove someone is old enough without handing over extra personal data, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They added that the system uses “zero-knowledge proof” technology — a method intended to confirm a fact, such as being over a certain age, without revealing other information.
The Commission leaders said seven “front-runner” countries are working on how the approach can be rolled out, either as a standalone app or as part of a national digital wallet.
Enforcement action under EU online rules
Alongside the app, the Commission leaders pointed to ongoing enforcement under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s online platform rulebook, including action against TikTok over features it described as “addictive design”, such as infinite scroll, autoplay, constant notifications and highly personalised algorithms.
Similar action is being taken involving Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Shein, according to Von der Leyen and Virkkunen.
They also said the Commission has taken action against four pornographic platforms on the grounds that they “do not have proper age verification tools in place” to prevent children accessing adult content.
An EU-wide coordination mechanism will be set up “this month” to work on accreditation of national solutions and ensure age credentials can be issued across the EU, with the aim of avoiding “27 different” systems.
The Commission leaders added that its “blueprint” for the app is open source, meaning companies can use it to build their own tools, provided they meet the EU privacy standard and follow the same technical approach across the bloc.
