Introducing New Ways to Verify Age on Instagram
Takeaways
Testing new options for people to verify their age on Instagram
In addition to providing an ID, people will now be able to ask others to vouch for their age or use technology that can confirm their age based on a video selfie.
Starting June 23 2022, Meta is testing new options for people on Instagram to verify their age, starting with people based in the US.
If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over, they'll be required to verify their age using one of three options: upload their ID, record a video selfie or ask mutual friends to verify their age.
In 2019, Meta began asking people to provide their age when signing up for Instagram. Since then, it's been made a requirement. Knowing people’s age allows us to provide appropriate experiences to different age groups, specifically teens.
Meta will also require people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram. In some countries, the minimum age is higher. When someone is a teen (13-17), Meta will ovide them age-appropriate experiences like defaulting them into private accounts, preventing unwanted contact from adults they don’t know, and limiting the options advertisers have to reach them with ads.
Testing New Ways to Verify Age
In addition to having someone upload their ID, they're testing two new ways to verify a person’s age:
Video Selfie: You can choose to upload a video selfie to verify your age. If you choose this option, you’ll see instructions on your screen to guide you. After you take a video selfie, Meta share the image with Yoti, and nothing else. Yoti’s technology estimates your age based on your facial features and shares that estimate with us. Meta and Yoti then delete the image. The technology cannot recognize your identity – just your age.
Social Vouching: This option allows you to ask mutual followers to confirm how old you are. The person vouching must be at least 18 years old, must not be vouching for anyone else at that time and will need to meet other safeguards they have in place. The three people you select to vouch for you will receive a request to confirm your age and will need to respond within three days.
You will still be able to upload your ID to verify your age with forms of identification like a driver’s license or ID card. D's will be stored securely on our servers and is deleted within 30 days.
Meta worked with international youth, privacy and safety experts to inform our approach. You can learn more about these three options and how to set them up.
