YouTube will begin using artificial intelligence to automatically detect users’ ages on Wednesday, requiring adults incorrectly flagged as minors to provide government ID, credit card information, or biometric data to prove their age. The system aims to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content, but privacy advocates and users are raising concerns about data security and the burden placed on adults who may be misidentified by the AI.
How it works: The AI analyzes user behavior patterns to determine whether someone is under 18, regardless of the birthdate they provided when signing up.
- The system examines signals like video search patterns, viewing habits, and account activity duration to make age determinations.
- Users identified as minors automatically receive teen safety protections, including content restrictions, adjusted recommendations, viewing limitations, break reminders, and disabled personalized advertising.
- The verification only applies to logged-in users, meaning young people could still access some content by browsing without an account, though age-restricted content remains blocked for signed-out users.
The verification process: Adults incorrectly classified as minors must submit sensitive personal information to regain full platform access.
- Users can verify their age by uploading a government ID, credit card, or selfie containing biometric data.
- YouTube says it won’t retain ID or credit card data for advertising purposes and uses advanced security to protect user information.
- The company allows users to choose their own privacy settings and delete their data.
Why this matters: Social media platforms face mounting pressure to protect minors after criticism that teens easily circumvent age restrictions by lying about their birthdates.
- Parents and lawmakers have long expressed concerns about social media’s impact on children’s safety and mental health.
- The UK’s Online Safety Act, which took effect last month, requires platforms like Reddit and Discord to verify some users’ ages.
Industry context: YouTube joins other major platforms implementing AI-powered age detection systems.
- Meta introduced similar AI technology on Instagram last year to identify teens who misrepresent their age and apply enhanced youth protections.
- TikTok uses AI to detect users under 13, the platform’s minimum age requirement.
- YouTube tested this system in other countries before Wednesday’s US rollout.
User backlash: Some YouTube users are organizing protests against the new requirements, sharing frustrations on social media with the hashtag #boycottyoutube.
- Privacy experts worry about the security implications of requiring sensitive personal data for age verification.
- “Discomfort with certain appeals processes which require providing really sensitive personal information is totally understandable,” said Suzanne Bernstein, a lawyer for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research group.
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