Internet. Age verification of Internet users: what does the European prototype soon to be tested by France consist of?

France and four other European countries will experiment with an online age verification app. The goal is to protect minors from dangerous content such as social media, pornographic sites, and online gaming platforms.

France wants to ban social media for children under 15. Illustrative photo Sipa /Adil Benayache

"I'm giving us a few months to achieve European mobilization. Otherwise, we'll start doing it in France," threatened Emmanuel Macron in June regarding the ban on social media for those under 15. The European Commission, in any case, initiated a movement by announcing on Monday a prototype application for verifying the age of internet users. Five countries have agreed to participate in the testing phase: France, but also Spain, Denmark, Italy, and Greece.

“This system will allow users to easily prove they are over 18, protecting children from inappropriate content,” explained Henna Virkkunen, European Commissioner for Technology. Countries will be able to use the tool developed by the Commission to integrate it into their national application or create a standalone application based on their own legislation and age limits. “Today, Europe is adopting ambitious guidelines under the Digital Service Act (DSA), which pave the way for banning social media for children under 15 in national law,” said Clara Chappaz, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs. Arcom also welcomed the adoption of these guidelines on the protection of minors online.

The prototype devised by the European Commission claims to meet a dual imperative: age verification and personal data protection. When accessing a pornographic site, social network, or online gaming platform, a page would open requesting proof of age via the application. The user will have previously entered proof of their identity into the application by submitting identity documents and/or by confirmation by trusted third parties such as banks or administrative bodies, capable of attesting to the user's majority. The application then generates a code from the site that purports to prove the user's age, without transmitting any identity document, the person's exact age, or any element that could allow them to be traced. Once this process has been completed, the user can continue browsing without having to create an account on the regulated site.

With this system, no data would be stored by the website or the state, and institutions would have no access to users' identities or history. "Users will retain full control over all other personal information, such as their exact age or identity," the Commission assures.