Instagram to verify your age with a SELFIE in new crackdown on ‘underage users’

INSTAGRAM asks teenagers to verify their age with selfies.

It’s part of Instagram’s ongoing fight to correctly identify teens — and keep very young children off the app.

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There are two new ways users are prompted to verify their age.

The first is to upload a selfie to the Instagram app – with UK-based company Yoti.

Yoti analyzes selfies to determine age groups with around 98-99% accuracy.

It works by checking your facial features in a video selfie and creating an age estimate.

Once Instagram (and its parent company Meta) and Yoti have verified your age, the video will be deleted.

“We require people to be at least 13 years old to sign up for Instagram,” Instagram said.

“In some countries, our minimum age is higher. When we know if someone is a teenager (13-17), we provide them with age-appropriate experiences.

“Like putting them on private accounts, preventing unwanted contact from adults they don’t know, and limiting the ability for advertisers to reach them with ads.”

Another option is to ask mutual friends to confirm your age.

The guarantor must be 18 years of age and must not be vouching for any other person at the same time.

They also need to take “other safeguards” that Instagram hasn’t detailed.

You can also use the current method to easily verify your age with an ID card.

This process is triggered when someone tries to change their date of birth from under 18 to over 18 on Instagram.

The new technology will be launched in the US first, but will likely eventually land in the UK as well.

“Understanding a person’s age online is a complex, industry-wide challenge,” Instagram explained.

“We want to work with others in our industry and with governments to set clear standards for online age verification.

“Many people, like teenagers, don’t always have access to the forms of ID that make age verification clear and easy.

“As an industry, we need to find new ways to address the dilemma of verifying a person’s age when they don’t have ID.”

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