European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Euroopean Union’s long-planned age verification app is now “technically ready to use”, marking yet another step to age checks across the bloc.
According to von der Leyen, the app will “soon be available to citizens” .
But not everyone is convinced this is just about protecting children. Critics warn the tool could open the door to data breaches and mass online surveillance, raising concerns about how far Brussels is willing to go in regulating digital life.
Among the opponents is German MEP Christine Anderson, who argues the app is far more than a simple safety feature.
“The Commission’s age verification app is presented as a narrow child-safety tool but it creates the infrastructure for broader digital identification online,” she told Brussels Signal today.
“Under the Digital Services Act, voluntary solutions like this quickly become mandatory in practice, forcing users to identify themselves to access basic services. Give Brussels an inch of discretion and it will take a mile of your freedoms,” she added.
The app has been tested since last year in several European countries.
The tool is expected to be rolled out by the end of the year and will be available for download on Apple and Google platforms.
It is designed to enable internet users to prove they are of the required age to use social media platforms.
Users will need to register using their ID card or passport. The aim is to verify their age without disclosing their personal data to social media platforms.
“Online platforms will be able to rely on it” to verify the age of their users, von der Leyen insisted.
The EC argues that the age verification app technology is a way of proving something is true without revealing the underlying personal data for age checks. That means a user would not need to share sensitive details such as their full date of birth or ID number with a social media platform.
The push for online age verification comes as many EU countries have been floating the idea of banning social media for teens under 15.
US Big Tech companies have been feeling the brunt of growing political pressure following recent legal setbacks in the US with a jury finding platforms such as Meta and YouTube liable in cases involving harm to minors and failures around child safety.
