Latest news with #ACCS
India Today
2 hours ago
- Business
- India Today
Kids under 16 may soon face social media ban after Australia proves it has tech for age verification
Australia is preparing to become the first country in the world to enforce a nationwide ban on social media use for children under the age of 16. This bold move now appears increasingly likely after a major government-backed trial found that age verification technology can work both effectively and privately. The Age Assurance Technology Trial, involving over 1,000 school students and hundreds of adults, tested how well current tools could verify a user's age without over-collecting personal data. The trial was overseen by the UK-based nonprofit Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), and the results are being seen as a key step towards making Australia's proposed legislation a no significant tech barrier to age assurance in Australia,' said Tony Allen, CEO of ACCS. Speaking at an online briefing, Allen acknowledged that no system is perfect, but emphasised that 'age assurance can be done in Australia privately, efficiently and effectively.'Although some tools may collect more data than necessary, Allen stressed the importance of balance. 'There's a risk some solutions over-collect data that won't even be used. That's something to watch.'Here is how the system will work At the heart of the proposed verification model is a layered approach. It begins with traditional ID-based checks using documents like passport or driver's licence. These are verified through independent systems, and platforms never directly access the estimation adds another layer: users can upload a selfie or short video that AI analyses to determine age. This method is quick and does not store biometric data. A third component – contextual inference – draws from behavioural patterns such as email type, language, and digital behaviour to further estimate a user's age. While not reliable alone, it helps strengthen the system when used with other these technologies aim to prevent children from easily bypassing checks while also respecting December 2025, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and X will be required to take 'reasonable steps' to keep underage users off their services. If they fail, they could face penalties of up to A$49.5 million (which is about US $32 million) per platforms, including YouTube, WhatsApp and Google Classroom, are exempt for now. Australia's move is being closely monitored by other countries, including the UK, New Zealand, and members of the EU, all of which are exploring ways to regulate children's access to social media. The Australian government sees this trial as proof that privacy and child protection can go hand in hand. A spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner's office reportedly called the findings 'a useful indication of the likely outcomes from the trial', and added that when deployed correctly, the technologies 'can be private, robust and effective.'Despite the positive trial results, there are still some caveats. Children may try to bypass age checks using VPNs, shared devices or borrowed credentials. It will now be up to social media platforms to detect and prevent these workarounds – a responsibility they've rarely shouldered at this scale In
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trial reveals flaws in tech intended to enforce Australian social media ban for under-16s
Technology to check a person's age and ban under 16s from using social media is not 'guaranteed to be effective' and face-scanning tools have given incorrect results, concede the operators of a Australian government trial of the scheme. The tools being trialled – some involving artificial intelligence analysing voices and faces – would be improved through verification of identity documents or connection to digital wallets, those running the scheme have suggested. The trial also found 'concerning evidence' some technology providers were seeking to gather too much personal information. As 'preliminary findings' from the trial of systems meant to underpin the controversial children's social media ban were made public on Friday, the operators insisted age assurance can work and maintain personal privacy. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The preliminary findings did not detail the types of technology trialled or any data about its results or accuracy. Guardian Australia reported in May the ACCS said it had only trialled facial age estimation technology at that stage. One of the experts involved with the trial admitted there were limitations, and that there will be incorrect results for both children and adults. 'The best-in-class reported accuracy of estimation, until this trial's figures are published, was within one year and one month of the real age on average – so you have to design your approach with that constraint in mind,' Iain Corby, the executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association, told Guardian Australia. Tony Allen, the project director, said most of the programs had an accuracy of 'plus or minus 18 months' regarding age – which he admitted was not 'foolproof' but would be helpful in lowering risk. The Albanese federal government's plan to ban under 16s from social media, rushed through parliament last year, will come into effect in December. The government trial of age assurance systems is critical to the scheme. The legislation does not explicitly say how platforms should enforce the law and the government is assessing more than 50 companies whose technologies could help verify that a user is over 16. The ABC reported on Thursday teenage children in the trial were identified by some of the software as being aged in their 20s and 30s, and that face-scanning technology was only 85% accurate in picking a user's age within an 18-month range. But Allen said the trial's final report would give more detailed data about its findings and the accuracy of the technology tested. The trial is being run by the Age Check Certification Scheme and testing partner KJR. It was due to present a report to government on the trial's progress in June but that has been delayed until the end of July. On Friday, the trial published a two-page summary of 'preliminary findings' and broad reflections before what it said would be a final report of 'hundreds of pages' to the new communications minister, Anika Wells. The summary said a 'plethora of options' were available, with 'careful, critical thinking by providers' on privacy and security concerns. It concluded that 'age assurance can be done in Australia'. The summary praised some approaches that it said handled personal data and privacy well. But it also found what it called 'concerning evidence' that some providers were seeking to collect too much data. 'Some providers were found to be building tools to enable regulators, law enforcement or coroners to retrace the actions taken by individuals to verify their age, which could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data,' it said. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion In documents shared to schools taking part in the study, program operators said it would trial technologies including 'AI-powered technology such as facial analysis, voice analysis, or analysis of hand movements to estimate a person's age', among other methods such as checking forms of ID. Stakeholders have raised concerns about how children may circumvent the ban by fooling the facial recognition, or getting older siblings or parents to help them. Friday's preliminary findings said various schemes could fit different situations and there was no 'single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases' nor any one solution 'guaranteed to be effective in all deployments'. The report also said there were 'opportunities for technological improvement' in the systems trialled, including making it easier to use and lowering risk. This could include 'blind' verification of government documents, via services such as digital wallets. Corby said the trial must 'manage expectations' about effectiveness of age assurance, saying 'the goal should be to stop most underage users, most of the time'. 'You can turn up the effectiveness but that comes at a cost to the majority of adult users, who'd have to prove their age more regularly than they would tolerate,' he said. Corby said the trial was working on risks of children circumventing the systems and that providers were 'already well-placed' to address basic issues such as the use of VPNs and fooling the facial analysis.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alabama Community College System says it's concerned, prepared for federal funding cuts
The head of the Alabama Community College System speaks to board members at the system's monthly board meeting on June 11, 2025, at Snead State Community College in Boaz, Alabama. Jimmy Baker told board members that he is worried about budget cuts to federal student aid, but is prepared for a "soft landing."(Screenshot, ACCS YouTube) The head of the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) said Wednesday that he is concerned about potential cuts to federal financial aid, but also that the system has enough funds in reserve for a 'soft landing.' 'We see it as our mission to make sure that whatever happens at the federal level with the federal dollars, we can manage a soft landing, and we are in a position to do that,' ACCS Chancellor Jimmy Baker said at the monthly meeting of the ACCS Board of Trustees Wednesday morning. 'I don't like the idea that just because some legislation passes, we have to jump and threaten people with their jobs and those kinds of things.' President Donald Trump's budget proposal, passed in the U.S. House and currently awaiting action in the Senate, includes a 23% reduction to the federal Pell Grant and increasing credit hour eligibility from 12 to 15 hours. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Pell Grant is given to students based on their expected family contribution, among other academic factors, and often goes to students with 'exceptional financial need,' according to the Federal Student Aid Office. According to ACCS, its students receive an average of $4,300 in Pell Grants every year, about $500 less than the median ACCS yearly tuition. 'These would lead to some significant changes for our system, but we want our board to know that we are watching this closely, and we will see how this will play out,' Vice Chancellor of Student Success Neil Scott said. 'But we are already putting contingency plans in place for the areas that may impact our colleges.' Baker said he did not expect things to be 'pleasant.' 'It's not going to be easy. But I see the move with the federal dollars in education diminishing,' Baker said. 'So we have to adjust ourselves, and we can do a lot of that. We're going to do a lot of that because our ultimate mission is offering quality programs to the communities that we serve.' Despite threats to federal financial aid, Scott announced Wednesday that enrollment for the Fall 2025 semester is up 29.36% over Fall 2024, or 7,976 more students than last year. Scott said that brings the total enrollment to-date to 35,143 across the system's 24 colleges. 'And we still have a couple of colleges that haven't begun registration for the fall yet, but of the 22 colleges that do have fall registrations posted, 21 of those are showing a head count increase,' Scott said.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Bad Santa
Home security video revealed a babysitter funded by the New York City Administration for Children's Services abusing three young boys in her care. The video shows La'keysha Jackson beating the boys—brothers aged 2, 4, and 6 years—nearly 60 times with belts and hangers, throwing the youngest, and using a Halloween mask and a Santa Claus costume to scare them, prompting the family to demand answers. The New York Post reports Jackson has been fired and the police are investigating but no arrest has yet been made. Jackson was apparently the family's second city-funded sitter; the first was fired after she was found to be drinking and smoking at the playground while watching the kids. The post Brickbat: Bad Santa appeared first on
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Tech trial for Australia's social media ban ‘broadly on track' amid concerns under 16s could circumvent systems
The technology trial for Australia's social media ban is 'broadly on track', the government says, despite a month-long delay of a key report on the best ways to keep under 16s off the platforms. It comes as the company behind the age assurance trial has revealed only one type of technology has been tested on children so far and some internal stakeholder concerns about how young people may circumvent the age ban systems. The federal government has also been sitting on a separate report, costing more than $275,000, that it commissioned last year on Australians' attitudes to age assurance technology. It was delivered to the government on 2 January but has not yet been released. The UK-based company recruited to run the trial, Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), was due to publish its age assurance report in June. The report will focus on what technology could be used to prevent under 16s gaining access to social media and under 18s accessing adult websites. The federal communications department has confirmed the ACCS report would now be delivered in July, and the minister would decide when to publish it, a spokesperson said. 'The independent trial of age assurance technologies remains broadly on track, in line with project delivery timeframes,' the spokesperson said. Briefing documents from Senate estimates in February, released under freedom of information laws, stated the final report 'is due in June 2025'. ACCS had previously stated the report was due 'at the end of June', and it would independently publish it. One of the first tasks for the new communications minister, Labor's Anika Wells, will be to assess the outcome of the trial, to decide which technologies are applicable and to which platforms they will apply. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Affected platforms must have age assurance systems in place by December. Wells must be satisfied that the platforms – expected to include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat – are taking reasonable steps to stop under 16s accessing their services. In an update on the age assurance trial from ACCS last week, it said the only type of technology trialed so far is facial age estimation tech, which examines a photo or video of a user to try to estimate the age based on their facial features. A total of 1,580 tests have been conducted on 485 students, in years 7 to 12. Aside from this testing, further work has been limited to interviews with dozens of potential vendors, and statements outlining how their age ban enforcement technology could work. The trial will try to confirm those claims through 'a combination of practical testing and a vendor interview'. About half of the interviews have been completed. Technologies deemed sufficiently mature to include in the final report will be tested by another company – the Australian-owned KJR – or through schools testing or mystery-shopper type testing. Mystery-shopper testing is a 'real-world environment, where users will have a variety of equipment, light conditions and access to required resources, be that an ID document or a bank account'. ACCS said there will only be 'enough testing' to confirm claims made by vendors 'and that may be achieved with a relatively modest level of practical experimentation'. The March meeting minutes for the stakeholder advisory board overseeing the trial reported stakeholders had raised concerns about gaps in the testing, particularly around how children may circumvent the age ban systems. A spokesperson for the department said a preliminary report, provided in April but not released publicly, gave the government 'anticipated findings in relation to age verification, age estimation, age inference, successive validation, parental control and parental consent methods'. Sources close to the trial told Guardian Australia they believed it was unlikely the report on the trial would be finalised by the due date – or that if it was, it would have not been adequate to inform government decisionmaking on the best technology to use. One concern raised was that other countries, including New Zealand and the United States, are looking to Australia's trial to guide their own plans. Those who supported the policy wanted it implemented correctly, rather than rushed through with technology that could later present privacy or other issues. The Social Research Centre was commissioned in August, and paid $278,000, to research attitudes to age assurance. This included an online survey of 3,140 adults, and 870 people aged 8 to 17 years. A spokesperson for the department said it was a matter for the minister on when that report, delivered to government in January, would be released. A spokesperson for the Albanese government did not directly respond to questions on the timing of the tech trial report or the Social Research Centre report release. 'The government looks forward to receiving the age assurance report and progressing our reforms to protect children from social media harms,' the spokesperson said.
