Latest news with #AgeCheckCertificationScheme
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
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Australia social media teen ban software trial organisers say the tech works
SYDNEY - Some age-checking applications collect too much data and no product works 100% of the time, but using software to enforce a teenage social media ban can work in Australia, the head of the world's biggest trial of the technology said on Friday. The view from the government-commissioned Age Assurance Technology Trial of more than 1,000 Australian school students and hundreds of adults is a boost to the country's plan to keep under 16s off social media. From December, in a world first ban, companies like Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, Snapchat and TikTok must prove they are taking reasonable steps to block young people from their platforms or face a fine of up A$49.5 million ($32 million). Since the Australian government announced the legislation last year, child protection advocates, tech industry groups and children themselves have questioned whether the ban can be enforced due to workarounds like Virtual Private Networks, which obscure an internet user's location. "Age assurance can be done in Australia privately, efficiently and effectively," said Tony Allen, CEO of the Age Check Certification Scheme, the UK-based organisation overseeing the Australian trial. The trial found "no significant tech barriers" to rolling out a software-based scheme in Australia, although there was "no one-size-fits-all solution, and no solution that worked perfectly in all deployments," Allen added in an online presentation. Allen noted that some age-assurance software firms "don't really know at this stage what data they may need to be able to support law enforcement and regulators in the future. "There's a risk there that they could be inadvertently over-collecting information that wouldn't be used or needed." Organisers of the trial, which concluded earlier this month, gave no data findings and offered only a broad overview which did not name individual products. They will deliver a report to the government next month which officials have said will inform an industry consultation ahead of the December deadline. A spokesperson for the office of the eSafety Commissioner, which will advise the government on how to implement the ban, said the preliminary findings were a "useful indication of the likely outcomes from the trial. "We are pleased to see the trial suggests that age assurance technologies, when deployed the right way and likely in conjunction with other techniques and methods, can be private, robust and effective," the spokesperson said. The Australian ban is being watched closely around the world with several governments exploring ways to limit children's exposure to social media. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Trial finds age assurance can be done, as under-16s social media ban deadline looms
The organisation contracted by the government to assess technologies that could be used to implement the social media ban for under-16s says options exist to verify the age of users privately, robustly and effectively. Australia's world-leading laws to stop children and teenagers accessing some social media platforms are due to come into force in December, after the legislation passed parliament with bipartisan support late last year. A 12-month buffer was built into the legislation to allow time for the e-Safety commissioner to figure out how to implement the ban, with consultations to begin next week, and the Age Assurance Technology Trial to be completed. The Age Check Certification Scheme and software consultancy firm KJR were commissioned by the government last year to lead the testing and released their preliminary report on Friday, which offered a snapshot of "broad patterns and trends". Companies that offer age assurance technology voluntarily put themselves forward for the trial, with interviews and testing then conducted on selected methods. But the two-page preliminary report does not include details of what tests have been undertaken or the results of individual methods and technologies. "The preliminary findings indicate that there are no significant technological barriers preventing the deployment of effective age assurance systems," project director Tony Allen said. "These solutions are technically feasible, can be integrated flexibly into existing services and can support the safety and rights of children online." The government is not treating the trial as a test of whether the social media ban can be implemented, nor a process to identify a single product or method to be imposed on tech companies to meet their obligations under the new laws. The full results are expected to be handed to the communications minister by the end of next month, then made public later this year, but some experts have already raised concerns. Earlier this week, ABC News revealed that face-scanning technology tested on school students as part of the trial this year could only guess their age within an 18-month range in 85 per cent of cases. "I don't think the ban is viable," RMIT professor Lisa Given, who closely analysed the government's policy, told ABC News. The preliminary report also found "concerning evidence" that, in the absence of specific guidance from government, some social media companies were "over-anticipating the eventual needs of regulators" about information that might be required for future investigations. This included some providers that were found to be building tools to allow law enforcement agencies and regulators to retrace steps of verification, "which could lead to increased risk of privacy breaches due to unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data". The age assurance trial was initially conceived to assess the viability of technology to prevent children from accessing pornography online and has considered a range of methods. It found there was no "one-size-fits-all" technology and that platforms would have to determine which one best suited their needs. Under the ban, anyone under the age of 16 will be blocked from using platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, a move the government and the Coalition argue is necessary to protect children and teenagers' mental health and wellbeing. While the ban only applies to young people, it will likely also require adults to verify their ages with social media providers. Tech giants will face fines of up to $50 million if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to keep children and teens off their platforms. There are no penalties for parents of young people who subvert the ban. Since the ban was announced, questions have been raised over whether existing technology could adequately police social media user ages, with the government yet to reveal how it will work in practice. It does not have to adopt any findings from the trial, which has been running for about eight months, while the laws prevent social media companies from forcing users to hand over their government IDs. Shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh said the "time is ticking" for the government to implement the ban, which was first lobbied for by the Coalition. "We are six months away from the age limit commencing and social media companies need clarity now around what requirements must be put in place to protect our children," she said. "The government must get this right. No more young lives can be lost or families destroyed because of the toxicity of social media." A spokesperson for Communications Minister Anika Wells, who took over the portfolio from Michelle Rowland after the election, said the final findings of the trial would be provided to the eSafety Commissioner to inform her implementation of the laws. "The government will be guided by advice from the eSafety Commissioner on the implementation of the law," the statement read. "We know that social media age restrictions will not be the be-all and end-all solution for harms experienced by young people online, but it's a step in the right direction to keep our kids safer." An eSafety spokesperson welcomed the early findings and said the trial results would be just one input as they worked out how to implement the social media age restrictions. "We are pleased to see the trial suggests that age assurance technologies, when deployed the right way and likely in conjunction with other techniques and methods, can be private, robust and effective," they said.
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.
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia's social media ban is attracting global praise – but we're no closer to knowing how it would work
The smash hit Netflix show Adolescence, which explores a teenage murder fuelled by social media and toxic masculinity, has renewed calls for social media bans in some countries. One of the show's stars this week said the UK should follow Australia's lead in banning children aged under 16 from social media platforms. The ban has been praised in the US and UK, and is described as 'world-leading' by the Australian government. Time magazine this week praised the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, for a 'remarkable' policy that was 'politically uncontroversial' on the basis that both major parties supported it. Left unsaid was all the criticism raised by mental health groups, LGBTQ+ groups and other campaigners during the rushed process to pass the bill in parliament last year. The committee reviewing the bill only reviewed the legislation for a single day, despite over 15,000 submissions being received. Author Jonathan Haidt, who reportedly lobbied politicians in Australia to push the policy before it was adopted and privately dismissed critics of his approach, told the New York Times this week that 'it's going to work. It doesn't have to be perfect at first, but within a few years it will be very good'. If it worked in Australia, it was going to go global 'very quickly', he said. But nine months out from the policy coming into effect, Australians are still in the dark about how our ban – which was passed by the parliament in November 2024 – will work. And that's likely to remain the case up to the federal election on 3 May. A trial of age assurance technology is under way, with schoolchildren still being recruited to participate just weeks before the first report is due. The under-16s social media ban is due to come into effect in December, but the government faces a number of hurdles before then, including figuring out what tech to use, and whether the platforms – emboldened by the apparent backing of Donald Trump – will comply. The Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), a UK-based company recruited by the Albanese government to conduct an assessment of the technology used to determine whether people are the age they say they are when accessing social media, is due to provide a preliminary report to the government by the end of April. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter While the report is said to be on track to be delivered this month, Guardian Australia has confirmed this preliminary report will not be released publicly by the company. A spokesperson for the communications department said the report was never intended for public release and is designed 'to afford procedural fairness to trial participants' on any changes that need to be made. The final report is due just two months after the preliminary report in June, before the communications minister – whoever it will be after the federal election – will get to decide which platforms it applies to, and what technology is appropriate. ACCS has begun recruitment of school-age children to test out the various technologies, but there is an education and consent process still under way. From there, schoolchildren will test out age estimation (where tech estimates how old a user is), assurance (where a parent or guardian confirms an age) and verification (using some sort of identity document verification) technologies. The children will act as 'mystery shoppers' and attempt to access a purpose-built online platform through the various age assurance methods, documents released by ACCS state. This process leaves just weeks to get the trials conducted, analysed, and a final report prepared for government. The ban is not a major focus of the federal election campaign – it had bipartisan support, after the Coalition pushed for it for months until the Labor government relented. However, there are still major concerns over how the ban will work, and who is included. TikTok and Meta, for example, are angry over the carve out YouTube received. The government's messaging on why this exemption was allowed has been mixed. The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said last year that YouTube would be included in a range of services exempt from the ban on health and education grounds. But in the draft wording of the document that sets out what services are exempt, YouTube is granted an exemption on its own, while health and education services are another carve out. In response to questions in Senate estimates from the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young last month, the department said the exclusion was 'consistent with broad community sentiment, which highlights the value of YouTube as a tool for education and learning'. Evidence shows most children under 13 accessing social media are accessing YouTube. A report from the eSafety commissioner last month stated more than 80% of children aged between eight and 12 are accessing social media, despite the current minimum age requirement being 13. However, this figure was largely skewed by children accessing YouTube, either by watching while logged out, or using a parent or carer's account. When YouTube is excluded, the figure is closer to 44%. TikTok and Snapchat are second and third behind YouTube (68%) on 31% and 19%, respectively. It is also worth noting that the stakeholder advisory board overseeing the trial has some members who have long called for bans or restrictions on online pornography, and have called for online censorship. But missing from the board are digital rights and privacy groups. Those organisations have subsequently been invited to apply to join the stakeholder advisory board, after inquiries from Guardian Australia, but as of yet do not appear to be included. Whether all this results in a report that the government can rely upon and implement before the end of this year remains to be seen, as does whether the social media companies will be willing players. The inconsistent treatment of some platforms over others might lead to companies such as Meta – which has already approached the Trump administration over their treatment by the Australian government – to seek the US government to push back on the ban before it comes into effect. But this week, Albanese, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the ban was not up for negotiation.
