Von der Leyen: EU online age‑verification app is ready

Brussels – The European app for verifying user age on online platforms is ready and will be launched soon (though no further details are available at present). The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Executive Vice-President responsible for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, were hoping for an announcement effect before it becomes operational. “It is our duty to protect our children in the online world, just as we do in the offline world. And to do that effectively, we need a harmonized European approach,” said the EU Commission head. “One core topic is the question: how can we ensure that there is a Europe-wide technical solution for age verification? Today, I can announce that we have the answer. Our European age verification app is technically ready and soon available for citizens to use,” she said. The mysterious application, which appears to operate in a rather clunky manner, “will allow users to prove their age when accessing online platforms. Just like shops ask for proof of age for people buying alcoholic beverages in a shop,” von der Leyen added. “Ss platforms do not have proper age verification tools in place, we came up with the solution ourselves,” Virkkunen said. 

The European Commission recognizes that “ digital technology can give children incredible opportunities. They can learn faster through interactive tools. They can stay connected to their friends and families. They can access a wealth of knowledge and explore the world, far beyond the walls of the classroom.” These technologies “can also help them develop valuable life skills”. But there is another side to the coin: “But we are also very aware that these benefits come with risks. When it comes to the safety of children online, the situation is extremely worrying.” According to the data, “One child in six is bullied online. One child in eight is bullying another child online.” Furthermore, “social media platforms offer highly addictive designs – infinite scrolling that is feeding the addiction, short videos snap attention span, highly personalized content, targeted.” The result: “The amount of time our children spend looking at screens has never been so high. And this is time they do not spend on the playground with their peers. And the more time they spend online, the more likely it is that they will be exposed to harmful and illegal content, and also to grooming from online predators.” 

Von der Leyen and her team reached this conclusion after “listening carefully to parents who do not have proper solutions to protect their children” and to Member States – such as France, where the Senate voted to ban minors from accessing social media, and Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that in Spain, access to social media will be banned for children under 16. These are concerns that the German politician says she shares – not least because “it is up to parents to educate their children, not the platforms” – and she convened “the first meeting of the Special panel on children’s safety online” a month ago, while “the panel’s second meeting” will be tomorrow. “This panel will deliver its recommendations by summer.” 

Modeled on the app developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, which allowed access to travel and activities by scanning a Covid certificate, the age verification app will be “easy to use”. Once downloaded, “You set it up with your passport or ID card. You then prove your age when accessing online services. Second, it respects the highest privacy standards in the world. Users will prove their age without revealing any other personal information. Put simply, it is completely anonymous: users cannot be tracked,” von der Leyen explains. “Third, the app works on any device – phone, tablet, computer, you name it. And, finally, it is fully open source – everyone can check the code. This means that our partner countries can also use it,” she adds. The app can be used “by our global partners. But more importantly, online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app. So there are no more excuses.” 

In von der Leyen’s view, “Europe offers a free and easy to use solution that can shield our children from harmful and illegal content. And we see more of our Member States making great progress. France, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, and Ireland are front-runners. They are planning to integrate the app into their national wallets,” the President notes, adding that she hopes other Member States and the private sector will follow suit, so that soon every citizen can use the app. For Virkkunen, “The seven front-runner countries are showing how it can be done. Either as a free-standing app, or as part of the national digital wallet. But we need to make sure that all the children in the EU are protected.” For this reason, “still this month, I will set up an EU-wide coordination mechanism” because “we need a structured approach for EU accreditation of national solutions. And for Member States to ensure that age credentials can be issued easily and across the whole EU.” Above all, “to ensure that we continue to build one solution for the EU, not 27 different ones,” Virkkunen emphasizes.

 A European app is therefore coming soon that “gives parents, teachers, caretakers a powerful tool to protect children,” von der Leyen concluded. “Because we will have zero tolerance for companies that do not respect our children’s rights”, given that, “children’s rights in the European Union come before commercial interest. And we will make sure they do.”